Diabetes in adolescence

Abstract

The adolescent diabetic has a totally different set of problems from either the child or adult with diabetes. Failure to recognise this and deal with it will result in non-compliance and non-attendance at the clinic. Anyone taking on the care of a teenage diabetic must be prepared to try to resolve all their problems in the one clinic. There is nothing worse for the youngster than to be rendered artificially schizophrenic when she has to attend the dietician for advice on weight reduction, a family planning clinic for advice on contraception, a psychiatrist to find out how to resolve family problems etc. It has been said that when dealing with the interplay between diabetes and psychological factors in the diabetic adolescent, "the well rounded clinician who can treat the disease and the emotional decompensation that accompanies it, is indeed the flower of our profession" [38]. © 1981 Springer-Verlag.