Emotional Changes
How MS Can Affect Your Emotions
Find healthcare providers and community resources to help you live your best life with MS.
Healthy Grieving With MS
Stress and MS
Aside from the normal stresses of everyday life, MS creates stresses of its own. MS is unpredictable and even anticipating the next exacerbation can be a significant source of stress.Many with MS say they experience more symptoms during stressful times. When the stress lessens, their symptoms seem less severe. Chronic stress also weakens the immune system and increases the risk for several illnesses including heart disease, diabetes and depression.Learn more about stress and how to manage it.Generalized Anxiety in Multiple Sclerosis
MS can cause significant anxiety, distress, anger and frustration from the onset of symptoms. The uncertainty and unpredictability associated with MS is one of its most distressing aspects. Anxiety is as common in MS as depression. Professional counseling and support groups can be very helpful in dealing with the anxiety and distress that may accompany MS. For severe anxiety, medication may also be needed.Moodiness and Irritability in MS
Moodiness and irritability may manifest as rapid and generally unpredictable changes in emotions. Family members may complain about frequent bouts of anger or irritability.The increase in irritability and moodiness can have multiple causes:- A mental health condition such as depression or anxiety
- Changes in your brain
- Challenges that can come from living with MS
Grief over any kind of loss is a normal and healthy process. You may grieve first with a new diagnosis and then again if/when the disease causes a significant loss or change, in things like your ability to work, walk or engage in certain leisure activities. You may also experience grief over a loss or change in your identity and sense of purpose in life.The grieving process is the first step in learning how to adapt to those changes and move forward. Given the many symptoms and changes MS can cause, you can expect the normal grieving process to come and go over time.Grief can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from depression. However, they differ in several ways:
- Grief over a recent change or loss is generally time-limited and resolves on its own. Clinical depression is more persistent and unremitting, with symptoms lasting at least 2 weeks and sometimes up to several months.
- A person experiencing grief may at times be able to focus on life’s activities and gain enjoyment from them, while a person who is depressed may not.
- Grief generally resolves on its own without treatment. However, therapy is oftentimes a source of treatment for people experiencing grief, particularly therapy that focuses on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT). Other strategies include self-help groups, and an understanding and supportive environment. Depression requires treatment by a mental health professional. Self-help groups and other types of emotional support are important but not sufficient.
Stress and MS
Aside from the normal stresses of everyday life, MS creates stresses of its own. MS is unpredictable and even anticipating the next exacerbation can be a significant source of stress.Many with MS say they experience more symptoms during stressful times. When the stress lessens, their symptoms seem less severe. Chronic stress also weakens the immune system and increases the risk for several illnesses including heart disease, diabetes and depression.Learn more about stress and how to manage it.Generalized Anxiety in Multiple Sclerosis
MS can cause significant anxiety, distress, anger and frustration from the onset of symptoms. The uncertainty and unpredictability associated with MS is one of its most distressing aspects. Anxiety is as common in MS as depression. Professional counseling and support groups can be very helpful in dealing with the anxiety and distress that may accompany MS. For severe anxiety, medication may also be needed.Moodiness and Irritability in MS
Moodiness and irritability may manifest as rapid and generally unpredictable changes in emotions. Family members may complain about frequent bouts of anger or irritability.The increase in irritability and moodiness can have multiple causes:- A mental health condition such as depression or anxiety
- Changes in your brain
- Challenges that can come from living with MS