While many with MS will experience depression or anxiety at some point, more rarely, some people experience changes to their emotions or behaviour that don't seem to make sense, or that they aren't able to control.
Patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) are believed to undergo personality changes, which could have implications for how they perceive themselves and are perceived by others.
Depression can occur in up to 50 percent of MS patients and is three times more common than in the general population. Up to 40 percent of support partners, such as caregivers and spouses, may also experience depression at some point in life.
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) feel more than twice as much withheld anger as the general population, but expressed anger levels are similar. Researchers were surprised by the results from the 195 MS patients. They also found that elevated withheld anger levels were not related to the severity of the patients' MS.
The increase in irritability and moodiness can have multiple causes: Depression. Changes in your brain. Challenges that can come from living with MS.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Recently, numerous studies have shown that MS disrupts a number of social cognitive abilities, including empathy, theory of mind (ToM), and facial emotion recognition.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with a higher prevalence of mood and psychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder (BD). While mania is most often associated with BD, MS can also induce manic symptoms.
Problems with memory and thinking - also called 'cognitive problems' - can affect people with MS, but most people will be affected mildly. Some people find it harder to find the right words, to concentrate or to recall things quickly.
Psychiatric symptoms in MS are highly prevalent and frequently overlooked in clinical settings. In 1 study of relapsing-remitting patients with MS in remission, 95% reported significant psychiatric symptoms, most frequently dysphoria (79%), agitation (40%), anxiety (40%), and irritability (35%).
Commonly cited MS personality changes include social inappropriateness, disinhibition, apathy, emotional lability, and impulsivity.
What causes exacerbations? Exacerbations (relapses) are caused by inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS). The inflammation damages the myelin, slowing or disrupting the transmission of nerve impulses and causing the symptoms of MS.
Long-term stress can cause physical problems including impaired memory, headaches and high blood pressure. Stress is a normal part of life for everyone, but in addition to facing normal everyday stresses, people with MS have to deal with the unpredictability and pressures the condition itself causes.
Here are some things to avoid: “But you don't look ill.” MS has lots of symptoms you can't see, like fatigue, pain, heat sensitivity or problems with balance, memory, bladder, bowel or eyes. Saying someone doesn't look ill can undermine how they feel.
One of the first questions many people have when they're diagnosed with MS is: “Will I still be able to drive?” The good news is that most people with MS continue to drive as normal.
Yes, it's possible to have MS and the more severe dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. Changes to the brain can be caused by both MS and Alzheimer's disease. People with relapsing-remitting MS, primary progressive MS, secondary progressive MS, and even very mild MS can go on to develop Alzheimer's disease too.
The present results show that patients with MS may not necessarily present a tendency to aggressive behavior, as previously reported. In some populations, like the one in the present paper, low degrees of tendency to aggression may occur at significantly higher rates among patients with MS, in relation to controls.
A change in cognitive function or cognitive dysfunction is common in MS — more than half of all people with MS will develop problems with cognition. It may have been your first symptom of MS.
Research tells us exercise can help you manage multiple sclerosis symptoms, including fatigue, and problems with balance and walking. Exercising can also: improve your mood. improve your overall health when your MS is mild.
Some people with multiple sclerosis find that they experience sudden episodes of uncontrollable laughing and/or crying at inappropriate times, or which are unrelated, or out of proportion, to their current mood. This can happen if MS lesions have occurred in the areas of the brain that control your emotions.
If you noticed that the physical ability is worsening over the past 6 months or year, inform your healthcare provider. Also, report changes in cognition such as short-term memory loss, multitasking problems and word-finding difficulties.
People living with MS often continue working long after their diagnosis. On the flip side, some people with MS decide to leave their jobs when they are first diagnosed or experience their first major exacerbation, often at the suggestion of their family or doctor.