Published May 22, 2023

A Case Study of Post-Traumatic Type 1 Diabetes

Part 3 of the series ‘T1D As An Emotional Response’

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**This is the first part of a three-part series examining the link between emotional trauma and the occurrence of Type 1 Diabetes. You can find the second part here and the third part here.**

Summary: This post delves into a case study of a 10-year-old Libyan boy who developed Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) after experiencing a bomb explosion. It examines how trauma responses differ in children and suggests T1D could be a physiological extension of trauma. The freeze response and ADHD are also discussed in relation to trauma and T1D.

During a hunt through various journals for information on Type 1 Diabetes, I recently came across a fairly old article in the The Pan African Medical Journal entitled ‘Post traumatic type 1 diabetes mellitus (insulin-dependent): a case report.‘

Type 1 Diabetes Develops After Trauma: A Case Study

This article really interested me. It’s the story of a 10 year old Libyan boy who, along with his brother, experienced an explosion from a bomb that was dropped near where they were. His brother ran off but this boy remained motionless in place, not moving until his father came to collect him some time later. The next day, this boy started showing signs of Type 1 Diabetes – excess thirst, excess urination and rapid weight loss. He was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes within the week, having had no previous signs of the condition.

Children Process Trauma Differently

This article interested me for four main reasons. Firstly, I was interested to find that how the author of this paper differentiated stress responses in young children from those of older adolescents and adults. For older adolescents and adults, the trauma response is likely to be mostly cognitive in nature – nightmares, intrusive memories, flashbacks, limited memory recall and so on. However, the author suggests that, for children, the symptoms are likely to be more behavioural in nature – losing recently acquired skills, having more accidents and reckless behaviour, or more psychosomatic complaints. So perhaps Type 1 Diabetes can be seen as a further extension of the physiological responses to trauma. It’s as if the body ends up processing what the mind can’t.

Type 1 Diabetes As A Freeze Response

Secondly, I am wondering about the freeze response of this Libyan boy. Unlike his sibling, who ran off when the shell exploded, he did not. He froze. This reminds me of the sessions I had with my osteopath where, prior to treatment, my body exhibited a strong freeze response. **INSERT ARTCLE** Is Type 1 Diabetes the response the body takes to survive a freeze response? Or does the freeze response prevent the body from completing a fight/flight cycle and returned to rest and repair? Is Type 1 Diabetes therefore purely an extended freeze response, where the individual has been unable to take action to alleviate their pain or suffering?

ADHD As A Trauma Response

Thirdly, I was thinking about how this author highlighted that children with trauma may exhibit their post-traumatic anxiety through behaviours such as hyperactivity, distractibility and increased impulsivity. These are the signs of ADHD! This author therefore provides an explanation for what I have suspected for a while: that ADHD, like Type 1 Diabetes, is an ongoing bodily response to trauma. This co-occurrence of Type 1 Diabetes and ADHD has been confirmed in the literature

Both ‘Big T’ Traumas and ‘Little T Traumas’ Count

Lastly, I just wanted to emphasise that, whilst this ariticle discuss a trauma of the ‘big T’ variety (see my article here for more info on these different types of traumas **INSERT ARTICLE**), I do not make a distinction between big T and little T traumas in terms of Type 1 Diabetes. I think both can be equally harmful and have equally deleterious effects on the health of the human body.

References:

1. Karrouri, R. (2014). Post traumatic type 1 diabetes mellitus (insulin-dependent): a case report. The Pan African Medical Journal, Vol 19, p. 328. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4405069/.

2. Ai, Y., Zhao, J., Liu, H. et al. (2022). The relationship between diabetes mellitus and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Pediatrics, Vol 10. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9560781/

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Natalie Leader

Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

A Case Study of Post-Traumatic Type 1 Diabetes

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