We all know that with the holiday season comes stress. Even now, as it is winding to a close, you still may be feeling the effects.
While everyone is subject to stress, people with MS have to be even more careful during the holiday season to be ready for the stress associated with financial constraints, weather and, yes, family.
Why is it important to reduce stress?
Stress can increase the core body temperature and thereby uncover older MS symptoms by overheating the wires and circuitry since MS causes damage to both the covering of the nerves (myelin) and the nerves themselves (axons). This frightening symptom (since it may seem that you are having an MS relapse) is called Uhtoff’s phenomenon.
The question of whether stress can actually cause a real MS relapse (and not a pseudo-exacerbation as with Uhtoff’s phenomenon) is unanswered and every decade the scientific literature swings back and forth on this question.
Who get affected by stress?
Everyone.
People with MS face the usual stressors and extra stressors that other people don’t, including:
- Financial (like everyone)
- Healthcare costs
- MS itself
- Other health issues
- Family issues
- Intimacy issues
The loved ones of people with MS also face special sources of stress stemming from all the same causes above. Carepartners often feel that their role has shifted to that of caregivers. It is important to maintain the partnership relationship in order to ensure that not only does the carepartner receive the love they so much deserve, but also to ensure that the person with MS is giving the love and support their carepartner needs. Partnerships are about giving and receiving and a person with MS who only receives does not feel as fulfilled as one who both gives and receives.
When does stress manifest itself?
The holidays bring parts of the family together.
While this can be a lot of fun and means that we all see loved ones we have missed all year long, it also means that the individual nuclear family units have to learn how to relate to each other – this can lead to a shift in family dynamics.
Where does stress manifest itself?
Stress can rear its ugly head in almost every situation, but most people find that stress is tied to finances and family dynamics. Looking at it this way simply describes the content of the stress and does not address the actual source of the stress.
Stress from both finances and family dynamics boil down to communication issues. While no one wishes for MS, having a lifetime (remember, not lifelong) diagnosis can refocus your life and allow you to look beyond the everyday stressful (and silly) issues we all face. Having MS can be life altering, while financial situations go in cycles – the economy is tough now, but we will come out of this (as we have done in the past).
What can be done to reduce stress?
