How social media is helping the chronically ill community
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I’ve always struggled with my body image, but I’d never truly felt shame until one of my specialists looked pointedly at my stomach and said in a dry drawl “We’ll need to do something to stop those rolls from getting bigger.”
My heart dropped. I was 17 and beginning to fall in love with myself, finding confidence and relishing the feeling of finally feeling pretty after years of self-hate. But at that moment every shard of confidence I felt shattered and a wave of red-hot anger and hatred surged—not at the specialist, but at myself.
It’s a sad reality that most people are dissatisfied with their bodies to some degree, but for those living with chronic illnesses, accepting their body and loving it becomes a multi-layer issue. Not only do you have to accept that this chronic illness will always be a part of your life and re-learn your concept of self, but you also have to reframe your entire identity.
And for a 17-year-old girl living with Type One Diabetes—who based her worth on her physical appearance—the lumps, bumps, and scars on her stomach due to fat build-up from 12 years of insulin injections, made it even harder to separate illness, worth, and identity.
The truth is I might have loved my strong-but-sick body if I had seen more people like me in the media—a young, Type One Diabetic woman exploring and expressing herself. While I did have diabetic friends, living with an invisible illness that forces you to give-up autonomy on your body and your life can be incredibly isolating.
So when I went searching for some form of representation that told me I was valid enough to be represented in media, movies, and magazines—and all I saw were perfect, fit, and able-bodied models, celebrities, and actors—that hatred stayed sharp and strong.
I admit, some days that hatred is still there, but now it’s different. Because now I open social media and see other people like me living with chronic illnesses—and it feels like we’re finally being seen for our authentic selves.
#cutecomfyandchronicallyill
From Lila Moss walking the Met Gala red carpet in a sheer Burberry dress that proudly displayed the Continuous Glucose Monitoring device (CGM) on her arm to Australian content creator Carmen Azzopardi using her online platform to normalise chronic illness, social media is completely changing the narrative around diabetes.
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On TikTok alone, #type1diabetes has 2.1 billion views, with content creators showing everything from how people insert their CGM, to ‘day in a life’ videos—complete with how they treat hypos, how many times they do finger pricks, and their normal day-to-day activities. Offering a voice and platform to a community that is often told upon diagnosis “you’ll never be like other people”, it’s a refreshing alternative to making friends in hospital waiting rooms.
And while you might think a girl in a pretty dress on the red carpet, a social media queen posting bikini pictures, or even a humorous video about what not to say to a Type One Diabetic isn’t any different from the normal social media content on your FYP, for many people living with chronic and invisible illnesses, it can be completely life-changing.
Starting conversations around body image, relationships, mental health and even sex (because people with chronic illnesses need to consider impacts in every aspect of our lives, including our sexual wellbeing), social media—which is often demonised for portraying unrealistic, aesthetic lifestyles—has allowed diabetics and others living with chronic illnesses to form a community where they can share their experiences while feeling heard, understood and valued.
When United Kingdom digital creator Jasmine Jaffar (@thetypethat_) started a conversation about sexual health with diabetes on Valentine’s Day, she highlighted a topic that rarely comes up in a clinical or educational environment. Writing that “empowering ourselves is key”, the post quickly gained over 100 comments praising, thanking, and even adding to her tips—breaking some of the stigma surrounding sex and chronic illness.
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But the conversations don’t stop there. Using her Instagram and TikTok accounts to talk about chronic illness in a way that’s not focusing on it 24/7, Sydney-based content creator and PR expert Carmen Azzopardi (@zigs_mom) is normalising talking about living with diabetes while harnessing social media to curate a space that makes others feel safe, supported and educated.
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Discussing everything from mental health to fashion, Carmen’s online profile not only offers a space for interaction and conversation, but it shows other diabetics that they do have control over how they present themselves and their illness. And by starting these conversations, showing followers that they are ‘normal’, Carmen is helping to remove the fear of the stigma—discrimination that four out of five people living with diabetes have experienced at some point in their lives.
This is the focus on National Diabetes Week 2022. Drawing attention to the real impacts diabetes stigma can have on a person’s mental and emotional wellbeing—including people not sharing their diagnosis with others, getting the help and support they need or doing what they need to do each day to manage their diabetes—it’s sparking important conversations around daily experiences of Type One Diabetics.
Personally, in the last 18 years, I’ve experienced blame and shame for having diabetes, I’ve received derogatory comments when I’ve done finger-pricks at work or in public, and I’ve been judged for taking the basic steps to care for my illness and stay alive. The list goes on.
The truth is living with Type One Diabetes is similar to living with mental illness—sometimes you can physically see the effects but most of the time you can’t. And while the fantastic conversation around depression and anxiety is changing after years of advocacy, the same understanding and empathy need to be applied to those living with diabetes.
While some people might not see the value of an Instagram post about being “cute, comfy, and chronically ill”, or a news article about a model wearing her insulin pump on the runway, for me—and others in the diabetic community—it’s completely changed something that was hammered into our skull the moment we were diagnosed: we’re not like other people, we never will be and this illness is our burden alone.
Yet, there are other people in the world experiencing the exact same frustrations and issues. They know what it’s like to be 13, 16 and 23, living with a debilitating illness. And they’re accessible, friendly, and authentic—breaking some of the stigma we face, one post at a time.
I would have loved to see someone like me at 17.
