A 2012 survey of patients with diabetes found that many regarded self-monitoring as an enemy, one that undermined their self-esteem and elevated their anxiety and depression (indeed, depression is twice as likely in people with diabetes as in the population at large). These effects are highly correlated with socioeconomic status and race, a worrisome fact as diabetes disproportionately affects African Americans and the poor.

And despite the fact that the American Diabetes Association recommends self-monitoring as part of the standard treatment for nearly all people with diabetes, a 2001 study found that only 5 percent actually monitored their status daily, and 65 percent of those on drug therapies admitted they'd done so less than once a month. (these results were consistent among patients with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes who were not taking insulin. Though there are important distinctions between the two conditions; I'll otherwise discuss them collectively here).

These statistics would seem simply to illustrate the sad lot of people with diabetes, except for one thing: Self-monitoring is increasingly being recommended as a panacea for all sorts of health conditions, from obesity and heart disease to sleep and mood disorders. The boom in mobile devices has created an ecosystem of sensors, apps, and other self-tracking instruments, all of which are being hailed as a boon to changing people's behavior and improving their health. I've done my share to advance this new age of empowered and gadget-centric medicine. I still believe that, on balance, self-tracking can indeed motivate patients and turn them into a powerful force for better individual and public health. The growing Quantified Self movement has helped thousands become agents of their own improvement, and a host of new companies are hoping to ride self-tracking to better health and startup wealth.

But it's easy to let the futuristic allure of technology obscure the fact that people with diabetes have been tracking their own health for 30 years now. They are the real early adopters here, and their jaded experience challenges those -- like myself -- who would argue that self-tracking tools are the salve for so many conditions. In short, the paradox is this: If self-tracking is so great, why do diabetics hate it so much?

The fact that diabetics have been doing this for years, and that they largely loathe the experience, not only serves as a caution to the vogue of self-tracking. It also offers an opportunity, serving as an object lesson in what works, and what doesn't work, when people track their health.

In the case of diabetes, the distaste falls into three categories: Self monitoring for diabetes is an unremitting and unforgiving labor; the tools themselves are awkward and sterile; and the combination of these creates a constant sense of anxiety and failure.