Mental Health Episodes

Too often, care partners remain invisible as they deal with the emotional, physical, and even financial burdens that go along with supporting a loved one who's living with multiple sclerosis. November is National Family Caregivers Month, and I'm devoting this entire episode to a roundtable discussion with four remarkable care partners as they share their insights, experiences, and lessons learned caring for a loved one with MS. You won't want to miss my conversation with Barbara, Marina, Maiya,...

There are some people who, once you meet them, it's impossible to forget them. They seem to leave an indelible impression. Lydia Emily is one of those people. Whether it's through her art that occasionally escapes the canvas to be expressed as massive urban murals proclaiming End MS, or through her outspoken MS advocacy. Lydia Emily is a force. Now, along with co-author Lenlee Keep, Lydia Emily has channeled that energy into a book entitled, The Art of Hope: The Life and Art of Lydia Emily. Lyd...

Learning to live with MS is learning to live with loss. For some, those losses may be minor and seem relatively insignificant. For others, those losses can be huge and life-altering. The definition of grief is an emotional response to a significant loss. It's not unusual to grieve over those things in your life that have been lost due to MS. In fact, healthy grieving is a necessary emotional step to moving forward in life. Dr. Holly Hendin, a faculty physician and psychiatrist at St. Joseph's H...

Living with the unpredictability of MS sometimes feels like riding a rollercoaster. As you experience the twists and turns of life with MS, you can sometimes feel unmoored from the person you thought you were. You can sense your priorities, motivations, and values shifting. And, in those moments, it becomes easy to lose your sense of purpose. Clinical assistant professor and rehabilitation psychologist at the University of Michigan, Dr. Evan Smith, joins me to discuss how to identify and reconn...

As Harvard Fellow Dr. Nara Michaelson treated women who had been recently diagnosed with MS, she recognized they shared characteristics that she had observed in victims of violent domestic abuse. Dr. Michaelson's observation led her to write The Unraveling, an essay that highlights the fear that can accompany the uncertainty of living with MS. Dr. Michaelson joins me to discuss the experiences that led to her award-winning essay and to share resources that can help maintain your emotional healt...

May 30th is World MS Day, and we're taking this opportunity to look at some of the challenges faced by people with MS around the world. Global economics and the peculiarities of different healthcare systems make fundamental issues like access to quality healthcare and affordable MS medications difficult for many and impossible for some. U.K. journalist and MS activist Rachel Horne joins me for a freewheeling conversation focused on the broad range of challenges that people with MS face every da...

We've reached a moment in time when it seems impossible to avoid at least some level of stress in our lives. We also know that stress has been shown to make MS symptoms worse and even trigger relapses. We can't eliminate all the stress in our lives, so learning how to manage and minimize stress is an important part of living well with MS. This week, Dr. Grace Tworek, a Clinical Health Psychologist at the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis at the Cleveland Clinic, joins me to talk about best p...

It's not unusual to see sex and intimacy become unintended and unnecessary collateral damage in the day-to-day-challenges of living with MS. But it doesn't have to be that way. Madelyn Esposito, LPC, NCC, CST, joins me to discuss some of the common sexual problems faced by people living with MS, ways to maintain intimacy in your relationships, and tips for maintaining a healthy sex life. Kristine Werner-Ozug and Cheryl Weeks-Frey take you inside the workings of the MS Society's Community Revie...

To tell or not to tell. When it comes to disclosing your MS to friends and family, that is the question. Choosing when to disclose and to whom to disclose is a deeply personal decision. Joining me to talk about some of the risks and benefits of disclosing your diagnosis is Dr. Victoria Leavitt, a clinical neuropsychologist, researcher, and assistant professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University. Well also tell you about a just-announced collaboration to develop an Epstein-Barr Virus vacci...

This special episode of RealTalk MS is sponsored by EMD Serono and MS in the 21st Century. In this special episode of RealTalk MS, we're talking with Professor Dawn Langdon and David Yeandle about the impact of MS-related cognitive issues on employment. Professor Langdon is a Professor of Neuropsychology with a special interest in cognition at the Royal Holloway University of London, in the United Kingdom. Professor Langdon is also a Trustee of the MS Trust in the U.K. David Yeandle was diagn...