My Type 1 Diabetes is Not My Fault

For those of you who have not come across Sarah Wilson before, she is a bit of a Jill of all trades. She is a journalist, former editor of Australian Cosmopolitan and host of Master Chef. Today, Sarah is best known as the author of I Quit Sugar.

I’m going to start by being honest and telling you that I am really not a fan of Sarah Wilson. Her whole I Quit Sugar bullshit is nothing more than a moneymaking scam, and I will never understand why she thinks her D-grade celebrity status gives her any credibility when it comes to offering health advice.

Sarah Wilson spends a lot of time writing about health and lifestyle issues, however she has absolutely no credible training as a scientist, researcher or healthcare professional. And none of her health claims have any evidence to support them.

But today, after writing that autoimmune conditions are caused by self-hatred, she has gone from being just misinformed to outright dangerous.

Read this. I really don’t want to promote her dangerous rantings, but read it. Read the ridiculous rhetoric. Read the assumptions. Read the complete and utter lack of anything resembling evidence. Read that her opinion is a result of watching a TED talk given by Dr. Habib Sadeghi, a so-called ‘healer to the stars’.

In addition to telling the world that autoimmune conditions are a result of self-loathing (as a person with three autoimmune conditions, I clearly despise myself!), she also writes about a magical talent she has. So magical, that I am unable to understand why she is not teaching at Hogwarts.

Apparently, Sarah Wilson has the ability to ‘spot at “autoimmune type”’. What’s an autoimmune type? Well, those who ‘…have an intensity about them, a desire to impress. They’re always the ones at the front of my lectures, frantically taking notes. They have an air of “I’m not good enough as I am’. I know as I write this, many heads out there are nodding.’

No, Sarah, no. They are not heads nodding. They are heads shaking in shock and disgust and amazement that someone could be so thoughtless. They are shaking in dismay and outright disbelief that someone is saying such damaging things.

Helpfully, Sarah has given us the secret of how to heal ourselves from these pesky autoimmune conditions we have hated upon ourselves.

It turns out The Beatles were right – all you need is love. Self-love.

Yes. That’s right. Sarah Wilson tells us that autoimmune conditions can be cured with self-love.

Now, I am the first person to say that we should all be kind to ourselves. We shouldn’t feel guilt about our health conditions or blame ourselves (or anyone else for that matter). And when I am feeling good about myself – when I feel emotionally robust – it certainly does make it easier to care for myself and my diabetes.

But no matter how much I like or love myself – and truthfully, I actually do think I’m a bit of alright – I cannot cure my diabetes. And it would be irresponsible of me to think that I could.

Sarah Wilson, please, please stop writing such dangerous rubbish. Please stop outright lying to people about medical issues. Stop using your wide reach to say such damaging things. Please just stop. In the case of Type 1 diabetes, people cannot survive without insulin. All the love in the world will not make my body produce its own insulin. When you suggest this, you are not only setting people up to fail, you are putting their lives at risk.

A version of this article was previously posted on Diabetogenic. 

Renza Scibilia

Renza Scibilia has lived with Type 1 diabetes since 1998. She is a diabetes patient advocate and works for a diabetes organization where she manages the community and peer support programs. Renza is a regular speaker at diabetes conferences both in Australia and internationally. She also writes one of Australia’s most wide-read patient blogs, Diabetogenic. Renza lives in inner-Melbourne with her husband, daughter, and menagerie of fluffy animals. She spends her spare time drinking too much coffee, baking with Nutella and dreaming of New York City. She collects books and boots, and has an obsession with collective nouns.

Renza Scibilia

Renza Scibilia has lived with Type 1 diabetes since 1998. She is a diabetes patient advocate and works for a diabetes organization where she manages the community and peer support programs. Renza is a regular speaker at diabetes conferences both in Australia and internationally. She also writes one of Australia’s most wide-read patient blogs, Diabetogenic. Renza lives in inner-Melbourne with her husband, daughter, and menagerie of fluffy animals. She spends her spare time drinking too much coffee, baking with Nutella and dreaming of New York City. She collects books and boots, and has an obsession with collective nouns.