Psychosocial Issues in Diabetes

In the past few years, there has been an increasing awareness of the psychologic, social, and anthropologic determinants in human life as direct modifiers of human behavior in respect to chronic illness. These factors have been implicated both positively and negatively in modifying the treatment and outcome of diabetes as well as other chronic illnesses. The literature surrounding these issues unfortunately has escaped the eyes of the health care professional because, in part, of the fact that it has been published in areas of psychologic and social literature rather than in traditional medical journals. This series of reviews is designed to provide further awareness of these important issues as they affect the natural history of the disease.