Healing minds: Managing your mental health with MS

Last updated Jan. 15, 2025, by Agata Boxe

 

Living with multiple sclerosis (MS) can impact your mental health, but finding ways to nurture it can improve your overall well-being.

MS is a neurological disorder with symptoms that vary from person to person, depending on what area of the nervous system is most impacted. Symptoms often include numbness and tingling, fatigue, walking difficulties, pain, and vision problems.

MS symptoms can take a toll on your mental health. Fortunately, you can help strengthen your emotional well-being through strategies such as creating an MS support network, practicing mindfulness, and having self-compassion.

Why mental health matters in MS management

MS can increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges — which include the stress of living with an MS diagnosis. Managing them may help to improve MS quality of life and MS symptoms, whose unpredictable nature can be emotionally challenging.

Doctor discussion guide

A 2024 review found depression and anxiety are common with MS, with about 45% of people with MS experiencing depression and about 37% experiencing anxiety.

Depression and anxiety often occur with MS because some of the mechanisms behind the mental health conditions and MS overlap. For example, inflammation plays a role in all three conditions — MS, depression, and anxiety.

Other research suggests depression plays a role in the relationship between MS and the effects of fatigue on your well-being.

Living with MS can also be very stressful because flare-ups can occur unexpectedly, affecting all aspects of your life, from family to work and school. Stress is a known MS trigger, so it can create a cycle where it further worsens your symptoms.

Learning to manage MS and stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges can make a difference in how you feel — physically and emotionally.

​​Building a support network

One of the most effective ways to boost your emotional well-being is by building a strong support network. Connecting with friends, family, and peers with MS can have a positive impact on your mental health.

Research suggests social support may be linked to improved mental health and other factors that may even include MS symptoms.

For example, a 2021 study showed social support plays a role in better mental health, quality of life, self-reported cognitive function, and less fatigue in people with MS.

Connecting with family, friends, and peers with MS is crucial for managing your mental health.

If you don’t have family or friends living nearby, try to stay in touch by phone, email, or social media. Sometimes people get busy with work, school, or family, so it is important to reach out even when you don’t hear from them.

Try to meet other people who are living  with MS because they will be able to understand what you are experiencing and possibly offer helpful advice for managing life with the disease. MS support groups — both in person and online — can be a great way to widen your social circle.

MS support groups include:

You can also ask your doctor if they know of any local MS groups you can join.

Managing stress

Stress is a common trigger of MS flare-ups, so knowing how to handle it is important for managing MS. Research has shown stress plays a role in MS, possibly because it increases inflammation.

Stress-management techniques — from journaling to breathing exercises — can help ease the emotional effects of MS fatigue, muscle weakness, and vision problems.

Some ways to get MS stress relief include:

  • Keeping a daily journal can help you identify your stressors and come up with ideas to cope with them.
  • Doing deep breathing or taking breaths through the nose or releasing through the mouth is a quick and easy way to help you stay calm.
  • Practicing mindfulness meditation, including with apps, can help you relax.
  • Spending time in nature can relieve stress.
  • Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day can help you get enough sleep, which is essential for MS stress relief.

Coping with cognitive changes

The cognitive symptoms of MS, which often include memory issues and brain fog, can cause challenges in your personal and professional life.

About 40%-65% of people with MS develop changes related to cognitive functioning.

But recent research suggests cognitive rehabilitation, or strategies designed to manage issues with memory and other aspects of cognition, can help. You can either try them on your own or with the assistance of an occupational therapist.

  • Start by reflecting on why you are able to remember certain things better than others.
  • Allow extra time to get to appointments and making daily to-do-lists can help with planning.
  • Break up bigger projects into smaller tasks to make them more doable and manageable.

Speaking with a therapist

Dealing with the potential impact of MS symptoms on your emotional well-being can be difficult to do on your own. Asking for assistance from a therapist is a key aspect of managing your mental health.

Talking to a therapist can help you not only come to terms with your diagnosis but also overcome day-to-day issues. For example, they can suggest strategies for managing your thoughts and emotions based on cognitive behavioral therapy.

Try to find a therapist who specializes in treating people with chronic illnesses or has a chronic condition themselves, as they may have a better understanding of your experience.

Start by asking your doctor, family, and friends for recommendations.

Staying active

Exercise is one of the best ways to boost your emotional well-being and can help manage MS symptoms, but fatigue and other MS symptoms can make it challenging.

There is no one best exercise program because MS symptoms vary. Working with a physical therapist can help you find the best type of physical activity. Options may include walking, strength training, swimming, and yoga.

Nutrition matters for mental health too: a balanced diet that excludes alcohol and caffeine may help to ease depression with MS.

Giving yourself a break

While receiving a diagnosis for a condition such as MS is not easy, practicing self-compassion — by treating yourself with kindness and understanding — can go a long way.

Research in the general population has shown self-compassion may be linked to better physical health.

Strategies for practicing self-kindness:

  • Practice positive self-talk, or internal dialogue, by talking to yourself the way you would to a friend who is in a difficult situation.
  • Do something nice for yourself every day, whether it is taking a nap or doing nothing for 15 minutes.
  • Write down instances of negative self-talk and replace those phrases with positive ones.
  • Let go of perfectionism by forgiving yourself for making mistakes.

Creating a personalized mental health plan

You may find it helpful to create a personalized mental health plan to manage the emotional aspects of the disease.

First ask yourself what you are planning to accomplish, whether it is stress management or dealing with anxiety. Then make a plan for exactly how you want to do it, for example, by practicing meditation for 10 minutes a day or exercising three days a week.

Your action plan should be a tool to help you feel better as opposed to creating more work for you, so keep it simple.

Be flexible and try to accept when plans change and that you may need to adjust strategies as needed. If an unexpected flare-up prevents you from working out one day, remind yourself you can reschedule.

Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.


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