If you have ever perused the literature on Multiple Sclerosis you may have come across a term used to describe the temperament of someone who has MS called, "the MS personality." I began to wonder if MS could ultimately change personality and if so, what sort of personality are we supposed to morph into? I would like to think that I am pretty much the same person as I was before this disease. But is this really true?
Do you believe there is such a thing as an "MS personality"?
Recently I went to Wikipedia (which is not always the most reliable source of information) and they made reference to the fact that some Multiple Sclerosis patients have paranoid delusions as a result of having this disease. My response was to be skeptical of this information. Yet I found more references to this potential symptom of MS. On McFox's Multiple Sclerosis web site for example, the author cites a statistic that,
"Approximately 10% of patients with Multiple Sclerosis will suffer severe psychotic disorders such as Manic Depression (Bipolar Disorder) and paranoia."
Of course I wonder which came first, the psychiatric disorder or the Multiple Sclerosis. In some cases the patients Multiple Sclerosis is misdiagnosed as a psychiatric condition. On the web site, Wrong Diagnosis, the authors give examples of this misdiagnosis:
"Multiple sclerosis often misdiagnosed as mental disorder: The early stages of multiple sclerosis may cause various general feelings of wellness, happiness, euphoria, or manic-type symptoms in some patients. These symptoms may lead to a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder, hypomania, cyclothymia, histrionic personality disorder, or similar disorders."
Again, it is unclear as to whether a patient who has MS can also have a psychiatric disorder such as Bipolar Disorder and if so, how does one differentiate MS from the mental disorder or are they one and the same?
Certainly having symptoms of a psychiatric condition would cause one's personality to change. How is it possible that MS can have such an impact upon personality? And are there more subtle ways in which Multiple Sclerosis can affect someone's personality?
When someone is told that they have a chronic illness such as MS, there will most understandably be an emotional reaction. Most go through the grief stages of shock, anger, and sadness. The nature of this disease is unpredictable and so there is also fear of the future to deal with. If you have MS, you also have to deal with changing your self concept of what you can and cannot do. All of these changes can affect how you deal with the world and including your friends, family, and loved ones. It is unlikely that others will not notice some part of your emotional struggle. Some might even say that the disease has changed your personality.
