Q: My 15-year-old son was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a year ago. How can I help him to manage his diabetes without feeling like I am always nagging him?

Ask Our Expert About Teens and Diabetes

About Our Expert

Our expert is adolescent medicine specialist Sarah Stevens, M.D., M.P.H.

Practicing Medicine Since

1993

Education

B.A. in Biology, 1983, Wells College, Aurora, NY

M.D., 1987, State University of New York, Health Science Center at Brooklyn College of Medicine

Master of Public Health, 1998, University of Massachusetts

Residency in Internal Medicine

University of Massachusetts Medical Center

Fellowship in Adolescent Medicine

University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Dept. of Pediatrics

Board Certification

Board certified in Internal Medicine and Adolescent Medicine

Remember that during the teenage years, your son is testing the waters between being completely dependent on you for all his needs and taking complete responsibility for his own life. Because that transition between dependence and independence sways back and forth between the two points for several years, you’ll likely face struggles along the way. During this time, though, your teen still needs (and wants) your guidance. He needs you to be clear with him what’s negotiable and what’s not negotiable. (Taking his diabetes medications or insulin, for example, is not negotiable.)

You might think of a teenager with diabetes as somewhat like a teenager turning 16 and learning how to drive a car. Before you allow him to get his learner’s permit, you want to be sure that he is mature enough to handle the responsibility of taking the wheel. Then you will spend 6 months (or more) riding with him, giving him instructions and keeping him safe as he learns to drive. Then you will begin to step back and let him take some trips on his own, at first during the day on short trips, then longer trips and at night. You will have set the ground rules for non-negotiable items--he must keep the gas tank filled, he must obey traffic laws, he must drive safely, etc. Then at some point, you will hand over full responsibility to him--he is now an independent driver.

Similarly, a teenager with diabetes needs you (and his diabetes team) to ride along with him as he learns how to manage his insulin, blood sugars, diet and other aspects of his care. You are there to keep him safe as he learns. Then you will have to step aside, as he ventures off to school, the mall, his friends’ houses and manages his diabetes on his own for a period of time, while knowing that he can call you if he needs you. Then as he demonstrates that he is responsible and can do it safely, you will give full responsibility to him--he can now independently manage his condition.

Although there’s no one recipe for how to help your teen with his diabetes management, here are some things to keep in mind:

Listen to what your teen has to say

• Find out what he is experiencing with his diabetes. Be careful not to brush off his concerns or his feelings. What seems trivial to you may be important in the life of your teen.
• Ask him how things are going at school and with his friends. He may not like being the only student who has to go to the nurse’s office to check his blood sugar or to have to take insulin with him when he goes out with his friends. Teens don’t want to be different from their peers.
• Find out if there’s anything he’d like to change about his diabetes management. For example, switching to an insulin pump might help your adolescent be more independent and flexible with their schedules for sleeping, eating and activities.

Brainstorm with your teen how to make things better

• Meet with the diabetes educator to work on solutions. Don’t be offended when your teen takes the educator’s advice more seriously than yours, even if he or she says the same things you do.
• Don’t assume you know what’s bothering your teen. You may think everything about diabetes is hard for him, but he may be struggling with only certain aspects of it.
• Help him to view diabetes as a chronic condition, not a disease. Some people have asthma. He has diabetes. Although he’ll have the condition for the rest of his life, if he manages it properly, he’ll be able to do everything other teens do.

Want your teen to get the special care adolescents need? An adolescent medicine specialist is trained to provide that special care. Call 610-402-CARE for an appointment.

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