Multiple Sclerosis is a devastating, incurable disease that afflicts about one in a thousand North Americans. Striking in the prime of life, it is the most common debilitating neurological disorder of people between the ages of 20 and 40. Eighty percent of patients suffer from cognitive impairments, seventy percent from sexual dysfunction, and fifty percent from depression. Few people are prepared for the emotional impact of this unpredictable, disabling chronic condition. Faced with a life-long progressive illness, patients typically experience fear, anger, sadness, grief, guilt, low self-esteem and sexual dysfunction. Half of all MS patients suffer from clinical depression. Other invisible symptoms, such as cognitive impairments and severe fatigue, often leave patients feeling misunderstood and alone. The emotional affects of MS can be more crippling than the physical challenges, yet little has been written on this topic. MS AND YOUR FEELINGS is the first book to specifically address the emotional pain caused by MS. Psychotherapist and MS patient, Allison Shadday, offers readers effective strategies for coping with the psychological trauma of this disease. Shadday shares real-life MS success stories and offers insightful professional advice derived from years of counseling hundreds of chronically ill patients. Her book offers readers hope, inspiration and validation, and teaches them: ·How to come to terms with an MS diagnosis ·How to recognize and overcome negative emotional responses to MS ·Techniques to identify and manage stress triggers that can impact MS symptoms ·Ways to minimize MS-related fatigue ·Strategies for coping with fear, guilt, anger, loss, depression and isolation ·Steps to enhance intimacy and build support networks ·How to deal with cognitive challenges ·Tips for increasing self-esteem ·How to develop a greater sense of emotional security and stability ·Latest information about new treatment options and promising research In addition, noted neurologist and MS expert Dr. Stanley Cohan, Director of the Pacific Northwest Multiple Sclerosis Center writes about the importance of treating the emotional symptoms of MS and discusses the promising future of MS drug research. Full of immediate, useful solutions, MS AND YOUR FEELINGS is an invaluable guide for patients, their loved ones and MS health care professionals.
