I don’t like it when people use fear to motivate others. It feels like a false motivator to me. I know it can’t last long and I know it doesn’t feel good inside to be afraid of something.
I’m not entirely sure, but it seems somehow like the fear motivator assumes I’m not very smart.
It makes me think of the Second World War when I think about people being motivated by FEAR. (Wholly different fear motivators in
the case of wartime and WWII in particular, of course, and entirely unrelated to intelligence.)
For some with diabetes, it’s a fear of having to take insulin. For some it’s a fear of going low. Or high. For others, it’s fear of amputation or blindness. For still others, it’s more and deeper and simply terrifying.
While I can understand these fears to a point, I cannot understand nor condone a medical professional using fear to motivate a patient. It’s like a doctor being a bully to get a desired result. I can’t refer to that person as a “professional” when they behave more like a thug.
Although, I did meet a lady at a diabetes support group last week who said she lives in constant nearly debilitating fear of diabetes complications. That fear motivates her to “exercise every day and not eat any bad food.”
While on the surface, those behaviors are healthy for her; however, I can’t help but ask: at what cost?
If you are living with nearly debilitating fear all the time… how is that living?
I understand that some people are just going to wait to deal with any physical issue until they HAVE to. I think that explains why some kids don’t give themselves shots—if Dad and Mom will do it, why should they
have to? If someone doesn’t have type two diabetes now and instead has prediabetes, what’s the big deal? If you’re feeling fine with a BMI of 50 why should it matter?
It should matter to you and for you because YOU matter, and being healthy is intrinsic to living your life and loving and enjoying all there is in your life. There shouldn’t be ROOM in that equation for fear.
If you can’t see that you are worth it, and your life is worth it, I worry that fear may be the last tool people who care about you have to help you get motivated to make some healthy changes for yourself.
That doesn’t make it any less irritating to see but it does make it much sadder.
In any case, I’m still wary of those who use fear to motivate.
How do you get beyond the fear you have about your life with diabetes?
