Multiple Sclerosis

NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY
Dealing with MS in Your Important Relationships
Important relationships take effort and energy—even without the added challenges of MS While MS
does pose some additional challenges, it can also enrich relationships and bring people closer together.
The first step in figuring out how to deal with MS in your personal interactions is to recognize that
the disease affects all of you—whether you have the disease or care about someone who does. The
next step is to decide whom you want to tell about the MS and what you want them to understand
about it. And the third step is to look for ways to make room for MS in your personal and professional
relationships without giving it more time, attention, and energy that it really needs.
Deciding to Disclose...Or Not
Telling others about your MS may be the first thing you want to do—or the last. No two people feel
exactly the same about disclosing their MS to others. Keeping in mind that once the information is out
there, you can't take it back, the key is figuring out when disclosure is in your best interest and when it
is not. Read more about disclosing to family, friends, employers and colleagues, and someone you are
dating.
Keep Balance in One-on-One Relationships
When one person in a couple is affected by MS, the other person lives with it as well. To keep your
relationship healthy and balanced, it's important to make sure that both of you stay on the giving and
receiving end of the relationship, in spite of whatever changes MS may bring. Learn how to manage
MS as team and enhance your communication and intimacy.
Parenting When You Have MS
Family Planning Decisions—The good news is that women and men with MS can be successful
parents of happy, healthy children. Learn the up-to-date findings about the impact of MS on conception, pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding, and the impact of childbearing on MS
Talking with Children about MS—Kids tend to worry when they know something's up—even if Mom
or Dad has no visible symptoms. Get some hints about how and when to begin talking about MS with
your children and check out the special resources for young children and teens.
Taking Care of Yourself While Caring for Someone Else
Caring for someone with a chronic illness like MS can be deeply satisfying. Spouses and partners,
family, and friends can be drawn more closely together by their shared concerns and collaborative
efforts. But caregiving can also be physically and emotionally exhausting, particularly for the primary
caregiver. While this is most often a partner or spouse, the primary caregiver may also be an adult
child, parent, or friend. Whoever you are, remember that paying attention to your own health and well-being is essential to being able to care for someone else.
Http://www.nationalmssociety.org/living-with-multiple-sclerosis/relationships/index.aspx