How Type 2 Diabetes Affects Relationships

Whether you're dating, married, or in a long-term relationship, a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes will affect both you and your partner.

Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH Print Email Having type 2 diabetes changes your life and can certainly affect relationships, whether you’re dating or married. Diabetes management requires a lot of your attention and focus, which may be hard for a partner unfamiliar with the disease to understand. You have to carefully monitor what you eat and check your blood sugar frequently throughout the day.

If you get sick and need help, your diabetes care may fall to your partner, who needs to learn about the disease to better assist you. If your partner is the one managing type 2 diabetes, you’ll want to get that education for yourself.

Diabetes: The Physical and Emotional Impact

People diagnosed with type 2 diabetes experience a wide range of emotions, including:

Fear
Anger
Depression
Denial
Guilt
Not only is the emotional aspect of diabetes a real rollercoaster, but there is also a physical impact on sexual function. The emotional strain of dealing with diabetes can cause stress and anxiety, as well as communication difficulties that can lead to sexual dysfunction in relationships.

Diabetes: Dating With Diabetes

There's more content below this advertisement. Jump to the content.
Ronda Keys, 37, an event planner from Maryland, was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 18, when she was in a serious relationship. She didn't know anyone else her age with the disease, so she tried to downplay its seriousness to her friends, her boyfriend, and even herself.

Keys, who is single, didn't want her boyfriend or friends to feel that they had to stop what they were doing or make accommodations for her diabetes, so she just didn't tell many people.

"I had to try to figure out how to still live a normal life and do normal things and manage my situation. After a while it just got to the point where I had to let people know," says Keys.

At first, her boyfriend just didn't know what he needed to do for her, what she needed from him, or anything about diabetes. "When you mention that you have diabetes, everyone wants to be the food police,” says Keys. She explained to him that she was still a normal, healthy person who just needed to make a few lifestyle adjustments to manage her disease.

Diabetes: Maintaining Bonds

Whether one or both partners have diabetes, there are things you can do to remain open and loving and strengthen your emotional bond, which in turn will help you navigate the changes that diabetes requires.

Here are coping techniques to ease you both through a diabetes diagnosis and for years afterwards:

Talk to each other. Adjusting to life with diabetes is difficult for patient and partner. Talk about what you're afraid of, what you're angry about, and what you need from your partner — and be sure to answer your partner's questions.Join a support group. Joining a support group for people with diabetes or family members of people with diabetes can be a valuable resource for both partners in a relationship. There you can talk to others experiencing the same challenges you are and exchange ideas on how to cope.Find ways to relieve stress. Dealing with diabetes can add a complex level of stress to a marriage, so find time to relax. Choose an activity or hobby that you each enjoy, together or alone, and regularly make time to forget about your troubles and have a little fun.Attend a diabetes education class together. This helped Keys and her boyfriend better understand her type 2 diabetes and adjust to her new reality. He learned about what she was facing and what she — and he — needed to do to manage her diabetes.Commit to lifestyle changes together. Keys says this was another important step in adjusting their relationship to accommodate her need for a healthier lifestyle. Her boyfriend altered his lifestyle as well to make it easier for her to stick with her improved habits. For people with type 2 diabetes struggling in their marriage or relationship, Keys stresses educating your partner and talking openly about your needs. Understand that your partner wants to help and often just needs you to show him or her the way