Caring for Your Emotional Health
Tending to Emotional needs keep life with Multiple Sclerosis(MS) in balance.
by Allison Shaddy, LCSW.
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How you feel on the inside is often ignored or overlooked. People with MS frequently state that the emotional impact of the disease can be as disabling as its physical symptoms. Typical emotional responses to chronic illness may include denial, fear, anxiety, low self-esteem, grief/loss, anger and loneliness.
1. Denial is a coping mechanism that is used to buy time as we catch up psychologically to our current physical condition.
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2. Fear is a natural response to the unpredictability of this disease.
3. Anger is not unusual for someone with chronic illness to experience intense bouts of anger
4. Low self-esteem, MS often alters our sense of self.
5. Grief/Loss, Loss is never easy and experiencing grief is not a task to simply complete and move on. Grief is a complicated process and although there is no way to do it correctly, one thing is clear: each loss must be acknowledged.
6. Loneliness, Most people with MS feel misunderstood to some degree.
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7. Anxiety, Painful uneasiness of mind.
My closing statement:
Me, I thought when first diagnosis everything was coming to a end. But unfortunately it wasn’t. As time goes by you get new symptoms wandering what’s going on and asking yourself what’s next? You have to deal with it and be ready for whatever comes.
Liked it
johnnydod | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
such a caring and well thought out article we all ought to think more of others less fortunate then ourselves
svishnugopal | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
it makes a lot of people to think beyond themselves…well written!
Themax | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Very well written thank you
diamondpoet | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
How we feel does have a huge impact on our health. Good article.
Darla Smith | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Great article!
alc | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the great information!
lillyrose | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Of course I do know where you are coming from, MS sucks, I feel so shit inside I have cut myself off socially and have no self confidence left but because I look ok people don’t realise that going in a crowded place (such as the cinema or shopping) is a big ordeal, I feel like I am drunk most of the time, my speech will slur and I will loose my balance and bump into people. An old woman hit me once with her stick because she said I was going to ram my shopping trolly into her, I wasn’t I was just trying to get to grips with my vertigo and was sorting my trolly out so I could continue. No going out into crowded places is a no, no for me.
A very well presented article. x
Will Gray | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Great article! Great info!
Uma Shankari | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Very interesting, informative and well presented article.
ReggieLutz | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
great article
Christine Ramsay | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
A very good article helping us to understand the illness. I know life cannot be easy. I am sure being able to put your thoughts in print must help.
Christine
cebuanaeyez | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Good research!
BeyondPretty22 | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Nice one
Papa Sparks | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Good write up and well-researched.
Annashank | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
A lovely article
Jamie Myles | Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Excellent article that sheds a little light on what an MS sufferer goes through. Thank you for sharing this.
shanthu | Nov 6, 2009 | Reply
very good work mate…thanks for the share
mathurans | Nov 6, 2009 | Reply
Good info shared
mxpower | Nov 6, 2009 | Reply
very interesting article i totaly agree that people don’t always think about how the person is feeling inside.
T S GARP | Nov 6, 2009 | Reply
Having emotional health is very important. Good article!
xinnianhao | Nov 7, 2009 | Reply
Nice article!
Lenjur | Nov 8, 2009 | Reply
Interesting article,Thanks for sharing
bobbyt | Nov 10, 2009 | Reply
With what you have, I could not do it.
sunshine926 | Nov 15, 2009 | Reply
It’s very important to feel good on the inside otherwise everything else becomes a struggle. Great write.