lucknow diabetes not only affects life of the patient it has an adverse impact on the life of immediate family members too the recently released diabetes attitude wishes and needs dawn2 study has captured the trend as per the survey over 61 of the respondents said they faced high level of stress because of their relative with diabetes besides 19 of the respondents perceived a notable diabetes related burden on the family if not managed the disease limits a patients ability to perform in people belonging to lower middle income groups the outcome lowers a patients earning simultaneously a portion of the family earnings go as medical expenses of the patient all these factors combine to affect the life of the family members directly explained dr sushil gupta expert in diabetes at endocrinology department sanjay gandhi post graduate institute of medical sciences emotionally too diabetes and the changing life of ones dear one bother the family members future concerns add to the pressure added dr kausar usman department of medicine king georges medical university the survey also revealed that diabetes exerts a psychological burden on the patient it showed that 27 respondents felt discriminated against because of the disease 12 reported depression and 52 said they experience diabetesrelated stress diabetics face discrimination in schools at work and in society while conducting the survey we came across various cases of discrimination in one case a girl was not allowed to participate in a school dance competition because she was diabetic teachers feared she would collapse due to her low sugar level dr sanjay kalra consultant bharti hospital karnal haryana one of the investigators of dawn2 in india told toi dr harjeet singh retired psychiatrist kgmu said diseases tend to affect family lives and diabetes is no exception the survey said 31 respondents were so frustrated they did not know how best to help the person with diabetes they support disease causes stress on both the patient and the care giver there is fear of losing the person or fall in quality of life the crisis situation calls for adjustment at a very fast pace since all individuals cannot adapt to the change conflicts arise which affects relationships he explained many doctors also see diabetes as care givers test the patience diabetes is a problem for life and it tends to deteriorate with time the sustained pressure also affects the quality of life of many patients and their attendants said dr abhishek shukla a city based geriatric physician he stressed on the need for counseling sessions for patients and attendants and regular diabetes education programmes the dawn2 survey however revealed that only 18 of the respondents had participated in any diabetes education programme done on 900 persons in india including 280 healthcare professionals 500 diabetics and their 120 family members the survey also covered countries of china japan turkey algeria canada usa mexico russia denmark netherlands uk france italy spain poland and germany the survey was carried out by healthcare firm novo