Nick Jonas describes mixed feelings about type 1 diabetes

Nick Jonas has described a complicated relationship with type 1 diabetes in an open letter, writing that he sometimes resents the condition while also valuing the perspective and sense of community it has brought him.

Jonas, 34, said he was diagnosed at 13 and has lived with diabetes for 21 years. He wrote the letter for Dexcom’s A Letter to Diabetes initiative, which coincides with National Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day on November 14.

In the letter, Jonas described checking his glucose on his phone and using an insulin pump to deliver insulin before eating. He said these are among hundreds of small decisions he makes each week, many of them unnoticed by others. He characterized diabetes as an ongoing conversation involving his body, mind and devices.

Jonas wrote that the condition’s unpredictability changed his earlier belief that he could structure his life around being in control. He said he was grateful for what he had learned, but also resented diabetes and sometimes wondered what life would be like without it.

He also recalled struggling to feel that he belonged while growing up. Jonas wrote that speaking openly about type 1 diabetes and meeting others who...