### Fighting Diabetes Stigma: Resources and Efforts People with diabetes often face stigmatizing comments like “You must have eaten too much sugar growing up” or “People get diabetes when they don’t take proper care of themselves.” These comments can lead to feelings of blame, shame, and isolation, which negatively impact both physical and mental health. #### The Impact of Stigma Stigmatizing comments can make people with diabetes feel less disciplined, less worthy, and less likely to succeed in managing their condition. This can lead to depression and learned helplessness, making it harder to manage diabetes and resulting in worse health outcomes. #### Advocacy and Research Advocacy groups and individual advocates are actively working to combat diabetes stigma. They focus on raising awareness, changing the language used, and integrating these efforts into diabetes care standards. Research has shown that a significant number of people with diabetes experience stigma, which negatively impacts their psychological well-being and clinical outcomes. #### Educational Campaigns Educational campaigns like Heads Up from Diabetes Australia and This is Diabetes from Diabetes UK aim to raise awareness about diabetes stigma. These campaigns help people understand how stigma affects those with diabetes and encourage empathy. #### diaTribe's dStigmatize.org The San Francisco-based nonprofit diaTribe has launched dStigmatize.org, a comprehensive online resource hub about diabetes stigma. The site features definitions, patient stories, research, and a downloadable language guide. diaTribe emphasizes the importance of addressing diabetes stigma as a crucial element of diabetes care. #### Future Steps Matthew Garza from diaTribe highlights the need for funding and conducting research on stigma, developing initiatives to eliminate stigma from healthcare professionals, and improving media portrayals of people with diabetes. diaTribe aims to continue developing dStigmatize.org based on new research and expand its audience. #### Conclusion While there is still much work to be done, the efforts to combat diabetes stigma are making progress. Small steps, like changing the language used and raising awareness, contribute to creating a more compassionate and supportive environment for people with diabetes.