Essay Example on Optimism & Positive Affect in Diabetes: Improving Wellbeing & Outcomes

Introduction

In patients that have diabetes, psychological wellbeing constructs such as optimism and positive affect have been linked to superior medical outcomes. The wellbeing of a patient with type 2 diabetes yields better control of glucose levels and reduces the overall mortality rate in a patient (Massey et al., 2019). Wellbeing interventions are well suited to persons with diabetes since they are applicable across a wide variety of psychological distress and could aid in increasing efficiency and motivation for self-care among patients. Primarily, this review analyzes existing literature that discusses and explores the effect of mindfulness in the treatment of type 2 diabetes among patients. The sources gathered from this review will be from PubMed and other relevant medical journals and will range from 2010 up-to-date. Notably, this review is essential since it provides guidelines on how to manage diabetes effectively among patients by encouraging mindfulness and other wellbeing interventions.

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Definition of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a meditation type where one focuses on being intensely aware of what a person is sensing and feeling at the moment. According to Howarth et al. (2019), mindfulness is an approach frequently used in everyday life by turning the attention and awareness of a person to a present moment without any forms of judgment. The practice is accessible to most persons and can be practiced at home without the need to attend classes. Mindfulness entails crucial treatment concepts that include compassion, detachment, and acceptance. Similarly, Massey et al. (2019) described mindfulness as a technique for treatment that involves breathing methods and imagery that aim at relaxing the body and mind hence yielding stress reduction. The therapy encourages a patient to refrain from excessive planning, problem-solving, and daydreaming activities, which increase stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. The practice of mindfulness, as Massey et al. (2019) stipulated, could help a person direct his or her attention from any forms of negative thinking and instead engage positively with the surrounding circumstances.

Further, Howarth et al. (2019) claimed that mindfulness, as a treatment method, is based on the treatment of chronic diseases. Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease. The condition is associated with an increase in the overall blood sugar levels in patients. Having to deal with diabetes on a day-to-day basis can increase high-stress levels among patients. According to Krishna (2018), stress is a form of body response to any demand. Stress can be categorized into specific body responses and non-specific. Specific feedback entails an actual reaction to a particular stimulus that involves a body system. The non-specific response is familiar to many forms of stress and includes various body systems and leads to varying flight response (Krishna, 2018).

Essentially, the heightened increases in blood sugar levels in a patient cause physical stress. More so, it yields psychological distress due to the changes in a patient's routine activities (Krishna, 2018). If a patient has mental stress daily, the physical symptoms could worsen, which implies that the blood sugar levels are likely to remain high. The overall condition of a patient deteriorates with time, which explains why the mortality rate from type 2 diabetes remains high in the world today. Stress management is one of the most recommended treatment solutions for type 2 diabetes. One technique of enhancing stress management is mindfulness meditation. When stress is ill-managed, Rosenkranz et al. (2019) argued that it could cause depression and anxiety disorders. Depression leads to suicide tendencies hence showing why dealing with stress is essential at the onset of type 2 diabetes in patients. Having understood the definition of mindfulness therapy and the correlation between type 2 diabetes and stress, the next sections of this review will not explore in detail how mindfulness can reduce type 2 diabetes symptoms in patients hence boosting a patient's overall quality of life.

Benefits of Mindfulness on Type 2 Diabetes Treatment

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been used as preventive and essential therapies in patients with anxiety, chronic pain, depression, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. In a study by Medina et al. (2017), the authors argued that MBIs are channeled to assist targeted populations such as athletes and patients prone to anxiety, chronic pain, and depression. The primary reason for mindfulness treatment to manage chronic pain is the fact that it aids in the improvement of nervous systems in the body hence increasing one's attention control and emotional and behavior awareness. Through effective MBIs, a patient is likely to be aware of their medical condition and will have the will to take various self-care treatment options to enhance effective management (Medina et al., 2017).

Similarly, Rosenkranz et al. (2019) asserted that diabetes is related to unfavorable conditions such as depressive cognitions that should be treated using non-pharmacological interventions. Notably, MBIs are one of the non-medicinal solutions that could aid in treating the disease. According to Vollestad et al. (2011), some of the interventions that could enhance self-care interventions include education, mindfulness, and acceptance skills. Once a person accepts that they have diabetes, they have to appreciate the existence of self-care management options to regulate situations where the symptoms could worsen. In a study by Rosenkranz et al. (2019), the researchers compared self-care management techniques of those patients indulging in MBIs and those that do not. The results gathered showed that patients that were regularly involved in mindfulness meditation had reduced stress levels and complied with all regulations given by the doctors on effective self-care management options (Rosenkranz et al., 2019). In effect, their glycated hemoglobin values were within the targeted range.

Consequently, Armani Kian et al. (2018) conducted a study on the influence of mindfulness-meditated programs in increasing the wellbeing and health of the population. The findings showed that the series improved the overall wellbeing of the patients, their general health and decreases the levels of anxiety and depression in patients with type 2 diabetes (Armani Kian et al., 2018). Similarly, another study by Noordali et al. (2015) assessed the benefits of MBIs in patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes. The findings revealed that MBIs helped in stress alleviations, which in turn, lowers the blood sugar levels in the blood since it increased self-care management among the individuals living within the condition (Noordali et al., 2015). More so, Vollestad et al. (2011) asserted that low levels of stress were significantly linked to a high quality of life and minimal risk due to type 2 diabetes. When patients notice a significant reduction in their blood sugar levels, they are likely to witness improved stress management and emotional distress levels hence improving their overall quality of life (Vollestad et al., 2011). From this, one can see the relationship between MBIs and stress reduction. Armani Kian et al. (2018) indicated that mindfulness meditation, coupled up with stress reduction, contributes to the psychological abilities of a patient coping with diabetes.

Mindfulness training among patients with type 2 diabetes interrupts and down-regulates the psychological reactivity of a person to stress triggers (Vollestad et al., 2011). Mainly, this mitigates mental stress and improves the regulation of glucose in the blood. Vollestad et al. (2011) claimed that distress in a person leads to the production of hormones such as cortisol, beta-endorphin, glucagon, and norepinephrine that increase glucose levels in the blood and ultimately resistance to insulin that is injected in patients with type 2 diabetes to regulate their blood sugar levels. Primarily, this signifies that with stress levels in the body, insulin would hardly be useful in the management of glycemic levels in the blood. Thus, with mindfulness training, the production of stress-related hormones will be regulated, and insulin treatment is likely to be effective hence improving the condition of a patient and prolonging their lifespan.

Stress makes management of diabetes difficult. With this in mind, Whitebird et al. (2017) investigated the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in the reduction of distress among diabetic patients and improved management of the condition. The findings gathered in the study after participants completed an MBSR program showed that improvements in anxiety, depression, self-compassion, and social support improved (Whitebird et al., 2017). The results show that MBSR could be an effective technique to encourage self-management of diabetes and improvement of the mental health of the patients. Noordali et al. (2015) study results seemingly correlated with those of Whitebird et al. (2017) since Noordali et al.'s (2015) study findings showed the psychological benefits of MBIs, which included the reduction of depression, anxiety, and distress symptoms in patients.

Another essential area to focus on in this study on exploring the benefit of mindfulness treatment in the management of diabetes is the emotional effect. Some studies analyzed, such as that by Vollestad et al. (2011) and Howarth et al. (2019), revealed that MBIs have the capability of reducing the adverse effects and body dissatisfaction, which are prevalent among patients with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Importantly, mindfulness helps in the regulation of emotions hence improving the overall moods of the patients (Whitebird et al., 2017). In addition to that, MBIs have a beneficial effect on a variety of negative emotions that include anger, sadness, and maladaptive stress responses (Whitebird et al., 2017). Notably, most people with chronic ailments tend to be angry and short-tempered. Such adverse emotions often result due to enhanced frustrations that could result from denial and other disease-related factors. According to Whitebird et al. (2017), mindfulness constitutes meditation by sitting quietly and taking deep breaths. Other active control techniques frequent in mindfulness practices include appraisal strategies. All these methods, as Howarth et al. (2019) indicated, have proved effective in enhancing emotion regulation among patients.

The hazardous effects of chronic pain on one's stress levels and other psychological conditions make a patient with type 2 diabetes unsocial. Humans beings are social beings, which means that failing to socialize further aggravates their conditions. MBIs have proved useful in stress management, which, in turn, increases social activity and support. According to Zamani-Alavijeh et al. (2018), social support is essential in enhancing self-care in patients with chronic conditions. Perceived social support would signify a decreased level of stress in patients hence reducing the overall hemoglobin levels in the blood. Stress management could increase self-esteem levels in patients and self-efficacy as well (Zamani-Alavijeh et al., 2018). In effect, conditions such as depression and anxiety would be managed successfully. From this, one can see that need to engage in mindfulness in enhancing the effective management of type 2 diabetes and reducing the overall mortality rate.

Conclusion

Type 2 Diabetes is a prevalent condition in the world today. The disease is chronic, and patients with this co...