empathy

In case there was any confusion, “Chairborne” is not an advice column. Well, not the kind of advice that comes from raw wisdom, anyway. Most of my lessons are closer to cautionary tales than anything else. The only reason I can suggest avoiding any mistake is because I’ve already…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or are somehow lucky enough to live on your own desert island, you’ve probably noticed that things are kinda difficult these days. I mean, COVID-19 is still a thing, and now we have monkeypox to deal with. Everyone seems to be…

Last weekend was a busy one. On Friday, I had to drop my eldest son at school at 5:30 a.m. for a field trip and then pick him up at 11 p.m. A nap wasn’t in the cards, I’m sad to say, and at some point in the evening, I…

There is an ongoing difference of opinion between my husband and me regarding my general outlook on life. I consider myself to be a realist, whereas he thinks I tend to err on the side of pessimism. I’m an overthinker. I’ve always felt things incredibly intensely. Interestingly, when I read…

Impaired social cognition — lacking the ability to understand and process others’ emotions — may affect how people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) feel on a day-to-day basis, a small, three-year study has found. RRMS patients with such difficulties were “characterized at follow-up by a higher level of depression…

Right now, it’s tempting to feel hopeless. COVID-19 is still out there with no vaccine in sight. Millions of people are out of work. And regardless of how you feel about the protests taking place in all 50 U.S. states (and around the world), all of us can admit…

Feeling tired, depressed, or anxious? Maybe it has to do with your social cognition. Social cognition involves empathy and recognizing the emotions that are revealed by someone’s facial expression. That expression may show fear or disgust. Or it may warn us of danger. Social cognition also involves the…

Sometimes I feel that some in the multiple sclerosis (MS) community do not show kindness to each other. Perhaps they can’t relate to others’ MS realities because their symptoms are dissimilar or they have a different disease type. I have witnessed interactions between people with MS in which one…

Issues with social cognition can occur in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients even without the presence of cognitive impairment, and are related to damage in a specific brain region known as the amygdala, a study reports. The study, “Social cognition deficits and the role of…

Have you ever had a friend, spouse, or even a doctor tell you that you’re imagining your MS pain, your fatigue, or even your sexual problems? “You’re not trying,” they might say. Or, “You just need to exercise.” It happens all the time for many of us, and it’s…

We all have taken advice or read about how to manage our multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms. And we can share with our doctors, spouses, children, or friends about our experiences. But a far better emotional therapy is empathizing with a fellow MS warrior. People can’t understand living with MS…

Who decides how we choose to chronicle our journey of illness? I have thought about this for the past few days. Many people believe that sharing the negative aspects of illness exacerbates fear and pessimism. The mindset is that if our words are inconsistent with hope and optimism, we…

Maintaining friendships can be challenging for those with a chronic illness. It may be difficult for friends to understand the changes that take place because of MS. Some changes are quite sudden and visible, others sneak in slowly. Increased fatigue or pain, I find, are most difficult for friends…

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 18, in the U.S. There are a lot of good fathers out there, but one I wanted to tell you about is my friend Jason Clark. He is a caring husband to his wife, Jenny, and an amazing father to his four children.

Caregivers of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are often burdened by fatigue and depression, even anger, all of which can unwittingly reduce the quality of care given — although they remain quite empathetic, according to a study. The research team at the University of Manitoba in Canada suggested that tending to the needs of people caring for…