The one-third of Jonas Brothers, who wants to be a role model to people with diabetes, reveals that he once was 'scared to death' when he's diagnosed with the disease.
- Nov 5, 2021
AceShowbiz - Nick Jonas wants to be a role model to people with diabetes.
The Jonas Brothers star was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 13, and admits he was "scared to death" when he was in hospital having tests done to determine what was wrong with him.
Now Nick has vowed to be someone others in that situation can look towards for a little hope.
"When I was first diagnosed, I was sitting in the hospital and was scared to death, honestly, while I was learning about how to manage this new thing I was dealing with," he tells People. "It would have been amazing to have someone to look at at that time to say, 'Oh, this is a person living with it and they're following their dreams. They're doing what they want to do with their lives and not letting it slow them down'."
The star didn't realise at first how unpredictable his diabetes could be, and he has had to learn not to put too much pressure on himself when things don't go to plan.
He adds, "I am a perfectionist and definitely put a lot of pressure on myself to do the best I can always and that includes, you know, my life with diabetes. But also, I understand that a lot of things are out of my control and it keeps me on my toes all the time."
"I knew that there will be good days and bad days, but I didn't know that sometimes, especially as you get older - going from being a 13 year old to now 29 - there are ways to take the pressure off."
And Nick is particularly focused on advocating for the "mental and emotional health aspect" of diabetes, adding, "That's really important. I certainly speak to my therapist... and luckily, I've got a really good support system around me and a great set of doctors."
"What needs awareness is the mental and emotional impacts that it has, not only just on the individual that's affected by the disease, but also by the friends and family and loved ones. I think speaking to that and building programs, whether it's reading materials or other ways in which we can shed some light on that... that's something I'm incredibly passionate about."
