Life after you finish school is varied and entails a great deal more responsibility and independence.
Some school-leavers go to university or TAFE, while others get an apprenticeship or go straight into work. Another important decision is whether to move out of the nest or stay for a bit longer and save some money for your own place.
When you have a condition like diabetes it means that you have to spend more time thinking about your health, how you're feeling, and being prepared. At some point in your adulthood your parents start to have less and less impact on your diabetes management, and finding ways to manage this yourself can require more effort.
Many of you will have heard enough about the finer details of diabetes and that's understandable.
We asked young adults about the things that concern and worry them about diabetes. The main worries they told us about were:
- How having diabetes could affect dating and relationships
- Handling diabetes in the workplace or university, and how employers and peers will react
- Moving out of home and gaining greater independence
- Moving far away from family (for example, moving to the 'big smoke')
- Handling the transition from paediatric to adult diabetes care for their diabetes
- Coping with tricky situations that can arise (for example, being exposed to drugs, dealing with lots of partying and late nights).
You can click on any of the icons on the main page that aim to help you deal with worries in all of these areas. You can find out more about strategies to cope with day-to-day management of diabetes; how you feel about your diabetes, and the kinds of thoughts you have about living with diabetes.
