Chronic Illness Essay

A chronic illness is a disease that persists for a long time. There are numerous chronic diseases in the world, many of which are the leading causes of death. At any time, 50% of the population has some sort of a chronic condition. My grandfather is a part of this population, and suffers from type 2 diabetes. Having a chronic disease impacts an individual’s life heavily. In addition chronic diseases can also affect the family and friends of the sufferer as well.
My grandfather has had type 2 diabetes for four years now. When asking him what symptoms he experiences with this disease he said, the majority of the time he has had no symptoms. When he first found out about his condition he went to the doctor’s office for symptoms of blurry vision and being extremely tired all of the time. He also said he was noticing he was urinating more frequently than usual. That day, they ran blood tests and found my grandfather had a blood sugar level of 300 mg/dl, which is very high and indicates that diabetes is out of control. Now, he says the only symptom he gets is occasional headaches that let him know his blood …show more content…
Quality of life is more than just the length of survival, but it also involves psychosocial consequences. My grandfather says that he has accepted his chronic disease and tries to make the best out of it, but he wasn’t always so optimistic about it. When he was first diagnosed he suffered from depression. He says that he felt that he let himself down and was hard on himself for not living a healthier lifestyle. According to the American Diabetes Association, people with diabetes have a greater risk of depression than people without diabetes. The stress of daily diabetes management can build. You may feel alone or set apart from your friends and family because of all the extra work (American 2014). Self-blame is a common emotional response for people who have chronic