How to identify your personal diabetes distress triggers with a simple tracking method. Neil explores the research, shares practical insights, and provides tools for managing the mental load of T1D.

What You'll Learn

• Trigger identification - Simple method to spot your diabetes distress patterns
• Tracking technique - What happened, what triggered it, how you felt
• Pattern recognition - How to map recurring stress points
• Actionable data - Using trigger info to address root causes

Simple Tracking Method

Take Action
Ready to assess your own diabetes distress? Both the T1-DDS-7 (quick) and 28-question (detailed) assessments are available at Neil's website.

Resources
Helpful resources and newsletter: yourbestt1dyear.com

Sponsor
Blue Circle Health offers free coaching and care that fits real life. Sign up free: bluecirclehealth.org

Connect
Instagram: @thebetes | TikTok: @the.betes | Website: yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes - One Day at a Time or Type 1 Diabetes - True Stories

The detailed 28-question diabetes distress scale reveals exactly where stress hits hardest. Neil explores the research, shares practical insights, and provides tools for managing the mental load of T1D.

What You'll Learn

• Distress categories - Powerlessness, management, hypoglycemia, healthcare, family, eating, social
• Detailed assessment - How the 28-question version provides specific insights
• Personalized results - Why seeing exact struggle areas matters
• Solution guidance - How detailed scores guide targeted interventions

The 7 Distress Categories

Take Action
Ready to assess your own diabetes distress? Both the T1-DDS-7 (quick) and 28-question (detailed) assessments are available at Neil's website.

Resources
Helpful resources and newsletter: yourbestt1dyear.com

Sponsor
Blue Circle Health offers free coaching and care that fits real life. Sign up free: bluecirclehealth.org

Connect
Instagram: @thebetes | TikTok: @the.betes | Website: yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes - One Day at a Time or Type 1 Diabetes - True Stories

The Other Side of Type 1 Diabetes: My Wife Gina on What It’s Really Like

Thirty years, three DKAs, countless alarms - and one marriage that somehow survived it all.

In this episode, Neil sits down with his wife Gina Greathouse for the conversation everyone’s been waiting for. Together, they talk about what diabetes distress really does - not just to the person living with type 1 diabetes, but to the person who loves them, supports them, and sometimes carries the weight right alongside them.

This is the real, unfiltered, funny, heartfelt look at love, marriage, and the mental load of life with T1D.

What You’ll Learn

• Partner perspective – What it’s really like to love someone with type 1 diabetes

• Emotional honesty – The tension between helping and not nagging

• Marriage under pressure – How distress, burnout, and fear show up in daily life

• How they healed – What changed when Neil began working on diabetes instead of reacting to it

Big Takeaways

1. Diabetes affects both of you.

The distress isn’t one-sided. When T1D moves into a marriage, both people feel it - one physically, one emotionally.

2. Communication changes everything.

Gina shares how they learned to talk with each other instead of around diabetes, especially when burnout hit.

3. Small wins build real trust.

As Neil began simplifying his diabetes management, the emotional load for both of them got lighter. Simple daily habits turned fear into confidence.

Take Action

Ready to assess your own diabetes distress or explore tools that strengthen your support system?

Take the T1-DDS-7 (quick) or 30-question version at yourbestt1dyear.com.

Resources

Helpful resources, free guides, and newsletter: yourbestt1dyear.com

Sponsor

Blue Circle Health offers free coaching and coordinated care that fits real life - from mental health support to prescription help.

Now available in 16 states across the U.S.

Sign up free: bluecirclehealth.org

Connect

Instagram: @thebetes

TikTok: @the.betes

Website: yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon:

Type 1 Diabetes: One Day at a Time

Type 1 Diabetes: True Stories

Your diabetes distress score is a tool, not a judgment. Here's how to use it constructively. Neil explores the research, shares practical insights, and provides tools for managing the mental load of T1D.

What You'll Learn

• Score interpretation - What low, moderate, and high distress scores actually mean
• Tools vs judgments - How to use your score as information, not self-criticism
• Self-comparison - Why comparing only to yourself matters
• Actionable insights - How to identify which questions hit you hardest

Key Takeaways
Your score isn't a grade. Distress scores are flashlights to show where pressure points are, not hammers to beat yourself up with.

Compare to yourself only. Your distress journey is unique - focus on your own patterns and progress.

Take Action
Ready to assess your own diabetes distress? Both the T1-DDS-7 (quick) and 28-question (detailed) assessments are available at Neil's website.

Resources
Helpful resources and newsletter: yourbestt1dyear.com

Sponsor
Blue Circle Health offers free coaching and care that fits real life. Sign up free: bluecirclehealth.org

Connect
Instagram: @thebetes | TikTok: @the.betes | Website: yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes - One Day at a Time or Type 1 Diabetes - True Stories

When it comes to diabetes distress, not all surveys are created equal. In this episode, we break down the two main ways researchers measure distress in type 1 diabetes: the T1-DDS7 (7 questions) and the T1-DDS (28 questions). Both tools were created to capture the emotional side of living with diabetes, but they go about it differently.

We’ll talk about what each version asks, why shorter isn’t always simpler, and how both can start important conversations about burnout, anxiety, and the weight of T1D management. If you’ve ever wondered how distress is measured — or what your score really means — this episode is for you.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The difference between the 7-question and 28-question diabetes distress scales.
• How each version measures emotional burden, regimen burnout, relationship strain, and healthcare frustrations.
• Why surveys aren’t a diagnosis, but they are powerful conversation starters.
• What caregivers and parents can learn from these tools, too.

Resources

Helpful freebies and newsletter: yourbestt1dyear.com

Sponsor

Blue Circle Health offers free coaching and care that fits real life. Sign up free: bluecirclehealth.org

Connect

Instagram: @thebetes | TikTok: @the.betes | Website: yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes - One Day at a Time or Type 1 Diabetes - True Stories

The actual 7 questions researchers use to measure diabetes distress, explained in plain English. Neil explores the research, shares practical insights, and provides tools for managing the mental load of T1D.

What You'll Learn

• The 7 core questions - Each diabetes distress assessment question explained simply
• Scoring system - How the 1-6 scale works and what scores mean
• Cut points - Low (below 2.0), moderate (2.0-2.9), and high (3.0+) distress levels
• Assessment versions - Quick 7-question vs detailed 28-question options

The 7 Key Questions
Feeling overwhelmed by diabetes demands | Feeling like you're failing with your routine | Feeling diabetes takes too much energy | Not meeting your own expectations | Feeling burned out by constant effort | Feeling diabetes controls your life | Feeling angry, scared, or depressed about T1D

Take Action
Ready to assess your own diabetes distress? Both the T1-DDS-7 (quick) and 28-question (detailed) assessments are available at Neil's website.

Resources
Helpful resources and newsletter: yourbestt1dyear.com

Sponsor
Blue Circle Health offers free coaching and care that fits real life. Sign up free: bluecirclehealth.org

Connect
Instagram: @thebetes | TikTok: @the.betes | Website: yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes - One Day at a Time or Type 1 Diabetes - True Stories

Episode 100 milestone! Neil breaks down the crucial difference between diabetes distress and clinical depression. Neil explores the research, shares practical insights, and provides tools for managing the mental load of T1D.

What You'll Learn

• Milestone celebration - Episode 100 of building T1D habits together
• Clear distinction - How diabetes distress differs from clinical depression
• ADA recommendations - Why screening both conditions separately matters
• Different support needs - Why distress and depression require different approaches

Key Takeaways

Distress ≠ depression. While they can overlap, diabetes distress and clinical depression require different types of support and intervention.

Both matter. The ADA recommends screening for both conditions because each deserves attention and care.

Take Action
Ready to assess your own diabetes distress? Both the T1-DDS-7 (quick) and 28-question (detailed) assessments are available at Neil's website.

Resources
Helpful resources and newsletter: yourbestt1dyear.com

Sponsor
Blue Circle Health offers free coaching and care that fits real life. Sign up free: bluecirclehealth.org

Connect
Instagram: @thebetes | TikTok: @the.betes | Website: yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes - One Day at a Time or Type 1 Diabetes - True Stories

Diabetes distress affects 40% of adults with type 1 diabetes, but what exactly is it and where did the research come from? Neil explores the research, shares practical insights, and provides tools for managing the mental load of T1D.

What You'll Learn

• The definition of diabetes distress - It's not just 'having a bad day' with blood sugars
• Research history - From the PAID scale (1990s) to the T1-DDS today
• Key statistics - Why 40% of T1Ds experience moderate to high distress
• Assessment tools - Introduction to the T1-DDS-7 and 28-question versions
• Important distinction - How diabetes distress differs from clinical depression

Key Takeaways

Diabetes distress is real and measurable. Researchers didn't study this for fun - they created tools because the mental load of T1D management is significant.

You're not alone in this. If you've felt overwhelmed by the 24/7 demands of diabetes management, you're experiencing what nearly half of people with type 1 feel.

Take Action

Ready to assess your own diabetes distress? Both the T1-DDS-7 (quick) and 28-question (detailed) assessments are available at Neil's website.

Resources

Helpful resources and newsletter: yourbestt1dyear.com

Sponsor

Blue Circle Health offers free coaching and care that fits real life. Sign up free: bluecirclehealth.org

Connect

Instagram: @thebetes | TikTok: @the.betes | Website: yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes - One Day at a Time or Type 1 Diabetes - True Stories