A study published earlier this month describes that there is a link between diabetic retinopathy and psychosocial functioning. The study authors noted that they conducted their in-depth investigation because “previous work has reported a link between diabetic retinopathy/diabetic macular edema (DR/DME) and psychosocial functioning.”

Study Design

The researchers reviewed 42 previously-published studies that met their inclusion criteria to assess the connection between diabetic eye disease (retinopathy and macular edema) and mental health measures, including:

Depression

Anxiety

Vision-specific disorders

Diabetes distress

Emotional health

Social well-being

Study Outcomes

The researchers concluded that their assessment indicates that:

“[DR/DME] severity and related vision impairment were consistently associated with poor psychosocial outcomes, mostly higher incidence of depression and depressive symptoms. Baseline depression and depressive symptoms were also associated with greater DR incidence and progression of DR. Medical intervention strategies showed significant improvement in psychosocial outcomes in patients with DR, such as significant improvements in mental health.”

Also, the research indicated that those individuals who had higher baseline depression were more likely to experience diabetic eye disease. Based on this bi-directional relationship between eye complications and mental health, the experts suggest that focusing on prevention, detection, and treatment of eye complications as well as on the detection and treatment of mental health conditions (i.e., depression) are warranted to optimize health outcomes in people with diabetes.

Conclusions

It probably does not come as a surprise that mental health and diabetes complications (i.e., retinopathy) are intimately related. Diabetes already predisposes people to depression and other mental health problems. Understandably, experiencing diabetes-related health complications may increase that risk further, while in turn, depression may hinder diabetes management. Taking a comprehensive approach to address diabetes management (including the prevention and treatment of complications) and optimizing mental health measures can significantly help to improve overall health parameters in people with diabetes.

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Have you experienced diabetes-related depression? Was it a direct result of experiencing complications? What do you think can be done to help patients improve their mental and emotional wellbeing?

Read more about complications, depression, diabetes burnout, diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy.