The Promising Role of Self-Compassion in Managing Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

Given the demanding daily regimen for type 1 diabetes (T1D) and emphasis on personal responsibility for self-management, people with T1D can experience self-criticism and diabetes distress. How an individual responds to and copes with diabetes-related feedback may influence self-care, health outcomes, and overall well-being. Self-compassion in the context of diabetes has limited but promising research on its ability to alleviate distress in people with T1D. This narrative review captures relevant, existing literature on self-compassion, compassion-based interventions, and T1D and describes four topic areas where diabetes-specific self-compassion and compassion-based interventions may be particularly relevant: (1) diabetes technology use; (2) relationship with eating and body image; (3) social interactions; and (4) healthcare interactions. Compassion-based interventions have the potential to enhance positive coping skills and to alleviate diabetes distress; more research is needed to understand the role of diabetes-specific self-compassion and to develop high-quality evidence-based interventions.

Keywords

• type 1 diabetes
• self-compassion
• mindfulness
• self-management
• diabetes distress