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Insulin restriction, medicalisation and the Internet
1Lancaster University.
Communication & Medicine
|February 7, 2025
Summary
Diabulimia, the deliberate restriction of insulin by type 1 diabetes patients for weight control, is linguistically treated as a legitimate mental illness in online diabetes support groups, despite lacking official status.
Area of Science:
- Medical Sociology
- Corpus Linguistics
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Diabulimia involves intentional insulin omission in type 1 diabetes for weight management.
- It is a contested condition lacking official diagnostic criteria.
- Online support groups offer a space for discussing health concerns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the discourse surrounding diabulimia in online diabetes communities.
- To analyze how diabulimia is linguistically constructed by users.
- To explore the implications of these constructions for patients and healthcare providers.
Main Methods:
- Corpus linguistics methodology.
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis of approximately 120,000 words from online diabetes support group messages.
- Discourse-based study.
Main Results:
- Diabulimia was consistently framed as a medically legitimate mental illness by support group participants.
- Despite lacking official recognition, the language used medicalized the condition.
- Linguistic analysis revealed shared understandings and constructions of diabulimia.
Conclusions:
- The medicalization of diabulimia in online discourse has significant implications for individuals experiencing it.
- Understanding these linguistic constructions is crucial for healthcare professionals.
- Further research is needed on the impact of online discourse on health perceptions and management.
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