It goes without saying, the circumstances surrounding the death of Karim Ouellet are disturbing, and infinitely sad. And his media treatment helps to add insult to injury. What is shocking in the ambient discourse is that it seems to insinuate that this beloved artist of the Quebec public would have died by his own fault.
For lack of having accepted his condition as a person with type 1 diabetes (T1D).
For lack of having badly “controlled” his disease.
For lack of taking drugs.
There are all the ingredients of a speech where one blames the victim.
And this contributes to stigmatization of people living with T1D.
I myself have suffered from this autoimmune disease since the age of three and a half. Now a doctoral student in psychology, my subject of specialization is the experience with T1D. I have therefore both experienced and witnessed the devastation that can be generated by social reprobation surrounding the management of this chronic disease.
As I write these lines, a friend told me that his experience with T1D inspired him with suicidal thoughts and that the media coverage of the death of Karim Ouellet fueled his dark thoughts.
I would like to bring to everyone’s attention that accepting a disease as complex and tragic as T1D is not easy. This issue is very mixed within our community. For some, the idea of accepting the disease is perceived as an injunction to stop feeling frustrated in the face of the difficulties it can cause. Insidiously, such a command seems to have the objective of reducing us to silence, for lack of having anything more to claim.
Regarding the ability to “control” T1D. Nowadays, 42 factors have been identified among the variables affecting blood sugar, many of which we have no possible control over, such as: the outside temperature or the hormones we secrete in a situation of stress or viral infection. In other words, to ask us to have “control” of our disease is to ask us to be all-powerful. With insulin, our power is limited. And we are constantly confronted with the evidence that it is the dose that distinguishes medicine from poison. We always have a Damocles sword hanging over our heads, because we know that too much or too little insulin can kill us. Blood sugar management is 24 hours a day. It’s a heavy daily mental load, without a break. A glycemic average outside the recommended targets is not necessarily a sign of discontinuation of treatment. Blaming ourselves for our poor blood results is unmotivating and hurts our mental health.
On this subject, several studies show that T1D is a risk factor for the development of various mental disorders such as: depression, anxiety or eating disorders, and that the stigma surrounding diabetes has something to do with it. Young adults with T1D would also be 3.25 times more at risk of committing a suicide attempt than those without this condition..
So, I call for empathy in the face of the constant ordeal of living with type 1 diabetes. I would like judgments about the management of our disease to stop and that appropriate psychological support be offered to us instead. I am outraged that we dare to blame Karim Ouellet for his deviations in the management of his disease. And it’s even more scandalous that we do it without recognizing that it is painful to live with this condition.
I offer my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.
Lizanne Lagarde, type 1 diabetic for 39 years, doctoral student in psychology, study project on the experience with type 1 diabetes – and many signatories*
*- Lyne Moreau, type 1 diabetic for 46 years
– Laura Marroquin-Éthier, type 1 diabetic for 19 years
– Karine Grandchamps, type 1 diabetic for 42 years
– Josée Thivierge, type 1 diabetic for 26 years
– Stéphanie Roux dt1 for 29 years
– Isabelle Tremblay, mother of a 7-year-old young Simone DT1, diabetic for 9 months
– Johanne Vallières, mother of Laurie DT1 aged 20, diabetic since the age of 11
– Gaétane Poirier, DT1 for 59 years
– Marilyn Roy, mother of Laurence diabetic since the age of 4 aged 18
– Karine Mainguy, mother of 16-year-old Raphaël DT1, diabetic for 3 years
– Josée Latterre diabetic since
1996
– Julie Lecomte, mother of 7-year-old Mathilde DT1, diabetic for 4 months
– Josée Heafey, mother of Shaun DT1 aged 28, diabetic for almost 4 years
– Catherine Poirier Laforce, 42 years old, DT1 for 19 years
– Karine claes, mother of Megane 20 years old, diabetic since the age of 15
– Chantal Desrosiers, type 1 diabetic since 2018 at the age of 54
– Tina Hache-Lacombe, type 1 diabetic, diagnosed in 2022 at 38 years old
– Audrey Lamontagne, 29 years old, DT1 for almost 10 months
– Sandra Potvin, mother of Rosalie and Eve-Marie, 17 and 12 years old T1D for 5 years
– Myriam Gagnon, entrepreneur, type 1 diabetic since 2006
– Chantal Lecours, mother of Mederick dt1 for only 4 months
– Manon Pelletier, DT1 for 18 years
– Marie-Claude Poirier diabetic dt1 for 44 years
– Marie-Claude mother of Maīka 15 years old T1D for 13 years
– Sabrina Gauvreau mother of Leah dt1 and t21 aged 16 diabetic for 15 years
– Cassandra leblanc DT1 for 3 years
– Sarah Brunette, partner of a diabetic adult since she was 21
– Caroline Gallant, 46 years old, DT1 for 9 months
– Julie Tremblay, DT1 for 36 years
– Nadia Lévesque, 46 years old, T1D for 29 years
– Xavier Ferron 36 years old diabetic for 23 years
– Arianne Moreau, type 1 diabetic since 2016
– Annik lessard 46 years old and type 1 diabetes since the age of 5
– Julie Bourgeois, 50 years old, DT1 for 3 years
– Caroline Désilets, 44, DT1 for 32 years
– Solea-Madeleine Fugère, 43 years old,
diabetic for 25 years
– Carole-Anne Cloutier, 35 years old and dt1 since the age of 6
– Sonia Dris, 32 years old, DT1 for 9 years
– Joane Désilets 63 years old, DT1 for 47 years
– Julie Dion, mother of a wonderful diabetic daughter since the age of 3 1⁄2 who is now 9 years old
– Florence Aubuchon, 24 years old, type 1 diabetes for 21 years
– Claudine Bolduc, Dt1 for 43 years and mother of a 16-year-old Dt1 and dt1 for 14 years
– Aude Bandini, DT1 since the age of 11
– Sylvie Gagnon 63 years old, type 1 diabetic for 7 years
– Cloé Perdriau, 25, DT1 for 6 years
– Johanne Bastien-Vinette, 65 years old, Dt1 since the age of 50
– Marianne Lavallée, 29 years old, DT1 for 5 years
– Chantale Poirier, 63, mother of Catherine Poirier Laforce DT1 for 19 years
– Sophie Angelina Grenier, DT1 for 30 years
– Maria Fuentes, mother of Roberto 17 years old DT1 since the age of 14
– Marianne Duguay, mother of T1D for 7 years
– Marie-France Mercier, 56 years old, T1D for 44 years
– Annie Thouin, DT1 for 35 years
– Yassmina Batir, T1D since the age of 7
– Marianna – Mum of Isabella, 18 years old T1D for 9 years
– Andréane McNally-Gagnon, DT1 for 36 years
– Julie Dabate, 38 years old and T1D since the age of 20 months, so almost 37 years old ~ 09/25/1985 ~
– Isabelle Desrosiers, mother of William 8 years old DT1 for 1 year
– Brigitte Fillion, 60 years old, Dt1 for 37 years
– Annie Roussy, 44, DT1 for 37 years
– Chantale Lagrange, type 1 diabetic for 49 years
– Chantal Berthelot, 47 years old, Tt1 for 1 year
– Diane Bergeron, 63, type 1 diabetic for 41 years
– Claude Cloutier 58 years old, type 1 diabetes for 40 years
– Roxanne Ménard, mother of Noémie, 16, DT1 since she was 12
– Amélie Vallières, DT1 since
– Erwan Miry, 42 years old, dt1 for 19 years
– Isabelle Brossard, DT1 for 5 years
– Gabrielle Maheux, DT1 for 28 years
– Christine Mimeault DT1 for 2 years
– Maria Zentefis, T1D since the age of 10
– Gabrielle Dufour, dt1 for 16 years
– Josy-Ann Roberge, 36 years old, Dt1 for 20 years, numerous hospitalizations during my career
– Melanie Plante, 44 years old, type 1 diabetic for 8 years.
– Catherine Héroux, 36, DTI for 35 years.
– Elisabeth Paquette, mother of Antoine 11 years old DT1 since she was 2 years old
– Danielle Henrichon, grandmother of Aurelie 15 years old, DT1 since she was 9 years old
– Maryse Morency, mother of a 16-year-old teenager, T1D since the age of 2
– Claudine Laporte, DT1 for 34 years
– Karine Galarneau, type 1 diabetic since she was 3 years old
– Maèva Rodier, 17, type 1 diabetic since she was 12
– Stéphanie Rioux, DT1 for 2 years
– Jean-François Lamarche, father of Félixe 6 years old diagnosed at 3 years old
– Anne-Marie Trépanier, 31 years old, T1D since the age of 4
– Sylvie Cote, type 1 diabetic for 35 years
– Mélissa Perreault, mother of Emma Tardif 10 years old, DT1 since the age of 7
– Geneviève Roger, mother of Livia, 5 years old, dt1 since she was 21 months old
– Vanessa Audet Breton, 31, DT1 for 17 years
– Caroline Authier, 37 years old, T1D since the age of 13
– Diane Jolin, 53 years old, T1D for 33 years
– Hélène Samson dt1, 52 years old
– Stéphanie Pulinckx, mother of Sofia Mathieu 11 years old, DT1 for 1 year
– Melissa Gilbert, mother of 6-year-old Madyson Verreault diagnosed when she was 4 years old
– Layla Fathy, mother of amine, 10 years old, DT1 for 9 months
– Marie-Eve Dubuc DT1 for 10 years
– Josee Tessier, 37 years old. Mom of 5-year-old Nolan, DT1 since she was 3 and a half
– Jessy Bouchard mother of Nicolas 12 years old DT1 since he was 3 1⁄2 years old
– Nathalie Long, spouse for 30 years of Samy DT1 and friends of several DT1 (Carowanis camps 💙)
Reference-www.tvanouvelles.ca