People take the mick out of my illness

Dear Liz,
A few years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes. Most of my friends are all right about it but some of them still take the mick. It can be upsetting, what can I do about it?
Peter

Hello Peter,
It must be hard when people make fun over something which you can't help. If this is unpleasant bullying you should tell your form teacher but if it is someone having a bit of fun perhaps you could sort it out yourself.

I think there might be some mileage to be had about your heroism in having to test your blood every day. You could always say you'll give them a demo of pricking your finger to get blood out of it. My guess is that they'd suddenly find they had somewhere else they needed to be - urgently!

If you have health and personal education classes, perhaps you or your parents could have a word with the teacher and a couple of sessions could be devoted to things like eczema, diabetes and asthma and how people control them. My guess is that half the class has got an inhaler stuffed away in a bag and once people understand more about conditions like these they're less likely to make fun of them.
Liz

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