Mom's Story

A discussion about Mom's Story and MS…

Archive for the tag “anxiety”

26 Mar 2021

Top 7 benefits of having pets in our MS life

There is more to it than just the snuggles. Having pets in our lives has a wide range of benefits. They help us cope, lift us from feelings of loneliness and depression, and get us outside for a bit of sunshine and exercise.

1. Pets keep us company.

Living with a companion animal can help ease feelings of isolation. Having a buddy by your side can make such a big difference in minimizing the feelings of loneliness. Even if the conversation is only one way…

2. Pets can help us fight depression

Taking care of pets (walking them, grooming them, petting them, playing with them) takes you out of yourself and helps you feel better. Our pets’ love is unconditional so, good day or bad, they have a lot to give us. Well, that is unless your name is Hans who, when he doesn’t get the treats he persistently begs for in the morning, may not be spreading the love quite as far.

3. Pets give us a sense of support and pleasure

Our life with MS should focus more on the good parts, not the un-fun stuff, right? Having pets makes us feel good. They’re cute and they’re sweet and they’re funny and they’re snuggly. All good stuff that makes living with MS a bit more bearable.

4. Pets get us outside when we might not otherwise

When we walk Spot, we sometimes meet others along the way, stopping for conversation, watching dogs do the funny things they do. It’s a great social outlet. Plus, there’s the added benefit of soaking some of that sun vitamin!

5. Pets calm us and relieve our anxiety

This is a big one for me as I am slightly neurotic. Hans is chill so he keeps me chill, not an easy feat. Om.

6. Pets help us minimize stress

This is huge for us, as stress is often the culprit when our symptoms flare up.

7. Pets help us improve our physical fitness

After all, exercise is important for MSers and, taking your dog for short walks or tossing their favorite toy in the backyard, helps keep us moving. This includes basic stretching. I can’t tell you how many times Hans watches us at home, with keen interest and curiosity, as we stretch or do some yoga. Eventually, he gets right on the floor with us to do a bit of stretching himself. Kitty Yoga. Hilarious!

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20 Dec 2015

New Study Suggests People with MS are at Increased Risk for Depression, Anxiety and other Psychiatric Disorders

Summary
• A large-scale study from Canada suggests that people with MS have increased rates of anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia compared to people without MS.
• Among people with MS, women were more likely than men to develop depression, anxiety disorder, and bipolar disorder, while men were more likely than women to develop schizophrenia. Although women with MS were more likely to develop depression than men, men developed depression at a much higher rate compared to men without MS.
• This study provides new information about the risks of psychiatric disorders in people with MS. Recognizing and addressing issues related to mental and emotional health can greatly improve quality of life for individuals and families.
• The National MS Society is focusing a light on psychosocial issues and emotional health in MS as part of its commitment to drive research and programs in wellness.
• The team (Ruth Ann Marrie, MD, PhD) published their results in Neurology (2015;85:1–8).
Details
Background: In scientific terms, having two chronic medical conditions at once is called “comorbidity.” There is growing recognition that comorbidities may complicate the diagnosis of MS and also influence disease progression, as well as an individual’s wellness and quality of life. It has long been known that depression and bipolar disorder are more common among people with MS than in the general population. In a recent study from Dr. Marrie and others, psychiatric disorders (depression and anxiety) were among the five most prevalent disorders occurring alongside MS. The current study specifically looks at psychiatric comorbidities in people with MS.

The Study: The team identified 44,452 persons with MS and 220,849 controls without the disease in administrative medical data from four Canadian provinces. They examined medical records to determine the incidence (new cases) and prevalence (all existing cases) of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia from 1995 to 2005 among these groups.

The results show that the incidence and prevalence of anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia were all higher in people with MS than in people without MS in the control population. Among people with MS, women were more likely than men to develop depression, anxiety disorder, and bipolar disorder, while men were more likely than women to develop schizophrenia. Although women with MS were more likely to develop depression than men, men developed depression at a much higher rate compared to men without MS.

Results were published in Neurology (2015;85:1–8).

Next Steps: This study adds to a growing body of evidence on conditions that occur alongside MS. The National MS Society is focusing increased attention on psychosocial conditions in MS as part of its commitment to drive research and programs in wellness. Read more

In the face of a chronic, often progressive illness like MS, people may tend to focus primarily on their physical health and neglect their emotional health — which is an essential component of overall health and wellness. Recognizing and addressing issues related to mental and emotional health can greatly improve quality of life for individuals and families. Read more about emotional health and MS

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19 Sep 2014

Anxiety and MS

By Julie Stachowiak

It is not often that I feel “lucky” as a person with MS, however, I do feel extremely fortunate to have never had to endure a mood disorder as a symptom of my disease. For a very brief time when I was younger, I suffered with periodic depression as a symptom of premenstrual syndrome, and that was enough to give me the tiniest glimpse into the horror of a mood disorder. When I was diagnosed with MS and learned about the variety of symptoms that I could encounter, my fear of depression and cognitive dysfunction far outweighed my fear of losing mobility.

Since depression is a well-known symptom of MS, I was shocked to learn at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting that more people with MS have an anxiety disorder than have depression. A study of 7786 adults with MS showed that 54.1% had “excessive symptoms of anxiety,” while 46.9% had “excessive symptoms of depression.”

It turns out that the prevalence of anxiety disorders in people with MS is roughly three times the prevalence of these disorders in the general population. More specifically, statistics show that among people with MS:

  • 18.6% have general anxiety disorder at any time (compared to 5.1% of people in the general population)
  • 10.0% have panic disorder (vs. 3.5% in general population)
  • 8.6% have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) (vs. 2.5% in the general population)
  • Social anxiety is also higher in people with MS than the general population.

In addition, more women with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) than men with RRMS are affected by anxiety disorders. People with secondary progressive MS were more likely to have symptoms of anxiety than those with other disease types.

Anxiety has received only a fraction of the attention depression has received as a disorder overall. However, it has been shown that anxiety in combination with depression, rather than anxiety or depression alone, are associated with increased thoughts of self-harm and more social problems. Despite the high prevalence in people with MS, as well as the potential risks when anxiety is combined with depression, the treatment or management of anxiety in MS has not been specifically studied. In my opinion, this is a problem, since MS symptoms can be made worse by the side effects of antianxiety drugs, which include: drowsiness and lack of energy, clumsiness, impaired thinking and memory loss, and slurred speech.

Another challenging factor is the difficulty faced by neurologists around diagnosing this disorder in their patients. There are a couple of reasons for this. People who are newly diagnosed with MS often exhibit symptoms of anxiety that may be transitory as they adjust to their diagnosis. More challenging is the overlap of symptoms between anxiety and MS. All of these extremely common MS symptoms are also symptoms of anxiety: pain, tremors, “buzzing” in their limbs, numbness, problems swallowing, tightness around the rib cage, sexual dysfunction and weak arms and legs.

What I would like to emphasize for anyone who is experiencing symptoms of an anxiety disorder or depression is that it is NOT your fault. People with these disorders can no more “pull themselves out of it” by “counting their blessings” or “looking on the bright side” than people in wheelchairs can get up and walk at will. If you are feeling any of the symptoms of these disorders, please seek professional help, preferably from a psychiatrist or other mental health professional who has experience treating people with MS.

Note: One very specific form of anxiety that was mentioned in the session was injection phobia, brought about when people have anxiety around self-injecting their MS disease modifying therapies. There has been some success in alleviating this using cognitive behavioral therapy. It is important to address injection phobia as soon as possible, as this reluctance to self-inject can lead to problems with adherence.

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