relationships

After I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2016, I thought I’d never find a partner who understood the complexities and nuances of my condition. For years, I wondered, “If I can barely comprehend the knowns and unknowns of living with MS, how could anyone else?” Oh…

In this installment of our “Expert Voices” series, Multiple Sclerosis News Today asked psychologist Gayle Lewis, PhD, to answer some of your questions related to sex and intimacy for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their partners.  Gayle Lewis is a psychologist and psychoanalyst currently in private practice in New…

I hate needles. Being told I’d need to do injections was the worst news ever, second only to my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.  Sitting in the neurologist’s office with my husband, Paul, was terrifying. I was 22 and newly diagnosed with…

Marriage is hard. It is also the most beautiful, sacred, and honest of all my experiences. Our vulnerable reality is a far cry from the blissful naivete of our wedding day. We had no idea how trying our future would become or how deeply our devotion would grow. I credit…

Relationships between multiple sclerosis patients and their intimate partners were enhanced when the couple worked together to make lifestyle changes, and to develop skills to improve communication, a study shows. 

In recognition of March as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Awareness Month, the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) is calling attention to the disease’s impact on families. More specifically, the nonprofit organization is focusing its awareness campaign on the topics “Relationships and MS” and “Spotlighting Care Partner Needs,” according…

This is a difficult column to pen. I am an open heart, yet critically examining myself, and my troubling behavior is onerous. The ego is not impartial. I have written several articles discussing the emotional toll of multiple sclerosis and chronic illness. By the comments and messages received,…

Arguments over nothing and everything are, in my experience, induced by extreme stress. When my wife and I were at full bore working together, this often happened. Not at work — there wasn’t time — and we were professional. Domestically, what little downtime we had would often be spent…

I write in an effort to offer enlightenment. Yet, so often I find I am the one to receive an education. Such was the case with my column on relationships and MS — or more pointedly, the feedback I received. While MS has…

Relationships are work. When you add in a chronic, progressive disease, the work becomes exponential. This is not to say work is a bad thing, as we reap immense rewards when we put effort into anything. Rather, anything worth doing…

The dating process is the prerequisite to most serious relationships. We invest a significant amount of time to assess whether we are compatible with the person of interest. Dating should be fun and we should look forward to future possibilities. For the past few days I’ve been thinking about dating…