A paediatrician presents two clinical vignettes of diabetic adolescents; one of them manages its treatments and hygiene without any apparent difficulty, while the second has significant difficulties in integrating the constraints and obligations caused by the disease. On the basis of these two clinical cases, a psychologist working in the paediatric sector tries to shed light on the mental, social and family difficulties which these diabetic adolescents may encounter and their impact on the management of the disease. She also questions the delicate place of parents and that of the referring doctor in this connection between diabetes and adolescence.