Multiple Sclerosis is a progressive disease, and because no two patients are the same and experience the same symptoms and the same progression rate, it’s hard to have a comprehensive “recipe” for everybody. However, there are some coping skills that each and every person with MS can learn, since these will help them enjoy life more and adapt better to their new MS lifestyle.

As it is well known, most MS patients are diagnosed in their early twenties or thirties, though this can happen sooner or later.   When MS is diagnosed, the person is told that this disease has a rate of progression that can vary a lot, and that over time, their condition will deteriorate, and that there is a possibility that they’ll end up in a wheelchair or worse. However, no doctor or healthcare physician can make a prognosis on how much time it will take until this happens – it can be years or decades.

Older adults are usually better adapted to their condition, but this doesn’t mean that a relapse or a worsening in their condition can’t have a strong psychological impact on them. This is even truer when they don’t have the support that they require to get on with their daily lives. So, what can be done?

First of all, for older adults, it is important to realize that they are not alone. This is why adults should get together with their closest friends and family and discuss the new changes, and have one night a month, where they gather for dinner and a supporting conversation, whatever that might be.  This can mean anything, from having a dinner and a relaxing talk afterwards, to simply talking about what happened in each other’s life.

Another thing that older adults with MS need to understand is that they don’t have to do all by themselves. This means that they shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help from their friends and family if they can no longer do all the things they were once able to do.

Younger MS sufferers tend to have a bigger capacity to adapt to the condition and are more likely to accept “outside” help; however, older adults got used to the idea that they are able to do everything by themselves – especially if they had a slow MS progression – and when the worst happens, they tend to believe that they’ll be able to do it all by themselves. Even if it’s true that people have a great adaptability, sometimes a little outside help is welcomed, as the limited amounts of energy MS sufferers have can be directed more towards doing things that they enjoy.