Most men and women who learn they have multiple sclerosis (MS)
find the news difficult to accept. Although there are treatments
that can lessen the symptoms, there is no cure for this
neurological disease, and its course can be unpredictable.
Moreover, MS typically causes its first symptoms when people are
in their 20s and early 30s, a time when they are starting
families and developing their careers. Fear or self-
consciousness about this disease and new disabilities that it
may cause can cause some with MS to isolate themselves from
other people. A better strategy for living with this disease is
to learn as much as you can about MS and to build connections
through available resources. Depression occurs in 20 percent to
60 percent of people with MS. Some experts believe depression
develops because of the unpredictability of the disease and how
difficult and exhausting it can be to live with a chronic
illness. Others believe that the MS causes a chemical imbalance
that produces clinical depression. Whatever it