Language, Stigma & Myths
Why words matter in diabetes care, how to talk respectfully, including for health professionals, and the myths that need busting.
Language that helps (and language that harms)
Rhiannan's practical walkthrough video coming soon.
What to know
Language shapes care
"Diabetic" reduces a person to their condition, say "person with diabetes" or "person living with diabetes". Numbers aren't "good" or "bad", and no one is "non-compliant"; they're a person making decisions inside a very demanding routine.
For health professionals: talk with, not at
Replace "What did you do to cause this?" with "What does a typical day look like for you?" Ask permission before giving advice, acknowledge the effort behind every result, and never use a number as a verdict. Judgement makes people hide data; respect makes them share it.
Questions that open conversations
"How are you finding things?", "What's the hardest part right now?", "Is there anything you want to change about how we manage this together?" Open questions invite honesty; closed ones invite silence.
Myth: they did this to themselves
Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune and has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. Type 2 has complex genetic and environmental drivers. Blame is never accurate and never useful.
Myth: first aid means giving insulin
For someone with dangerously low glucose, insulin is the one thing that must never be given, it lowers glucose further. A hypo needs fast-acting carbohydrate; a severe hypo needs glucagon and 000, never insulin.
What to do, in order
- Swap labels for people: "person with diabetes", not "diabetic".
- Retire the words "good" and "bad" from glucose talk, use "in range" or "out of range".
- Ask before advising: "Would it be helpful if I shared something?"
- Health professionals: open every consult by acknowledging effort before reviewing numbers.
- Correct myths gently but clearly, especially "they can't eat that" and "just give insulin".
- Model respectful language around others; it quietly changes what everyone thinks is normal.
Test your instincts
Read each situation, then reveal the options.
A colleague says, "My uncle's diabetic, he basically ate himself sick."
What's a respectful, useful response?
Show the optionsHide the options
You're a nurse handing over a patient. You catch yourself about to say, "Bed 4's a poorly controlled diabetic."
What's the better handover?
Show the optionsHide the options
At a barbecue, someone sees your friend with type 1 diabetes check their CGM before eating dessert and announces, "Wait, you can't eat that!"
If your friend looks like they want backup, what could you say?
Show the optionsHide the options
This is general first aid education, not personal medical advice. In an emergency in Australia, call 000.