BDI offers clinical programs to help overcome emotional and psychological issues associated with diabetes

As millions of Americans with diabetes are making New Year’s resolutions to eat better and exercise, there is one organization focused on an often ignored area of treatment: the emotional and psychological issues surrounding both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The Behavioral Diabetes Institute (BDI) is the world's first organization dedicated to tackling the unmet psychological needs of people with diabetes. The BDI offers an array of evidence-based clinical programs, all designed to help people overcome the emotional and behavioral obstacles to living well with diabetes. Based in San Diego, the Behavioral Diabetes Institute is committed to helping people master the unique challenges of diabetes, conducting behavioral research in diabetes, and providing health care providers with the specialty behavioral training necessary for managing diabetes effectively.

The Behavioral Diabetes Institute was founded five years ago by William Polonsky, PhD, CDE, an internationally known, Yale-trained clinical psychologist, certified diabetes educator, associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and author of Diabetes Burnout: What To Do When You Can’t Take It Anymore. Formerly the senior psychologist at the famed Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Dr. Polonsky is an active researcher in behavioral diabetes and travels throughout the world speaking to patients and health care professionals about how to understand and address the emotional stresses of living with diabetes.

Diabetes is a tough disease that can be difficult for many people to handle. Managing one’s own diabetes takes time, knowledge, and effort. People often become overwhelmed or “burned out” by the unending, often burdensome self-care demands. Many report feeling angry, frightened, or unmotivated. Relationships with loved ones can become strained, creating further feelings of isolation. Addressing these real-life aspects of diabetes is critical for long-term success. Unfortunately, they are often given little attention in common medical practice.

Dr. Polonsky and his colleagues provide useful tools online at their website, www.behavioraldiabetes.org. They also offer small group workshops and programs for adults and adolescents with diabetes throughout the year, all at little or no cost. These include their core program, Getting on Track; the multi-week depression series, Feeling Good Again: Breaking the Depression/Diabetes Connection; and — new for 2010 — programs for eating disorders in diabetes.