"It's always about you and your MS"
I am a 20 year old woman and got diagnosed with MS in January 2024. I also have a bunch of Mental health issues which I had even before MS which is why I live in a shared apartment for mentally ill adults. We all have our issues here but we usually get along quite well. I have been gradually telling everyone about my MS when I felt the time was right. I didn't feel like keeping it a secret, but I'm kind of regretting it now.
Last Thursday we went on a trip to Italy and it all went kind of fine until the end when one woman from my shared apartment started coming at me for no obvious reason. I won't recount the whole incident but practically she told me it's always about me and my MS. This obviously hit me pretty hard. Yes, MS is making me anxious sometimes and I sometimes talk to our caretakers about it, but I never felt like it should have bothered someone else this much. Today my best friend told me she heard the woman saying: "I'm mad that someone I know isn't feeling as bad as I thought they would" I'm not sure what she thought would happen after she attacked me emotionally, but if she expected me to end up in a psych ward....i almost did so congratulations on that i guess. Some people really are monsters. Sorry for the vent.
It breaks my heart
when you apologize for sharing your emotions and your experiences. You have nothing to be sorry for! Your experience is valid and your emotions are yours. I'm so sorry that you had this experience, it's hard to help others understand everything that we experience under the surface. You have my support, and please vent. Every time. Anytime. Don't bottle it up! 💜💜 
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Thank you for your kind words of support.
We're grateful you are part of this community.
~Doreen (Team Member)
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I'm sorry you are not getting the support you so need and deserve.
Most people not affected by MS unfortunately just don't understand.
It's important to focus on you and try to stay clear of the negativity.
Always know this community is here for you...reach out anytime.
Sending hugs, Doreen (Team Member)thank you, I appreciate this community so much!!
When we have a disease like ms, it affects every part of our life. And unfortunately, it is always us and our MS. We don't have a choice. Don't take the other persons offensive behavior personally. They don't understand and do not want to understand. Not worth being in your life.
There are mentally ill people who are good people and there are mentally ill people who are bad people you need to stay away from and in my life in work I have had to work with people who for some reason did not like me and went out of their way to do things to make me miserable, criticizing my work and not being compassionate or friendly or supportive at all. Some people are just mean people, and some people because of their mental illness demand all the attention all the time........and this girl may hate that you get attention. Your MS is a mountain right now that you take with you, and navigating it is something you always have to do. I am so sorry that this girl wanted to make you feel badly........she may just be that mean girl. I want to interject into the conversation the fact that hurting people hurt people..........but also know that there are evil people in the world. You disarm her with your smile and kind word. If you live in an apartment with her, it is hard to not feel horrible sometimes if she is unkind..stressed etc. If someone blows up at me it causes me a stress into the next day. I get upset, my BP goes up. It is worth avoiding that upset. All I can say is that I get over it, as we all do. Maybe she is demanding your attention, or more of someone else's attention. Maybe she needs to talk......I don't know if you can be friends but don't be controlled by her temper. You be you! There is this whole psychological dynamic that occurs in some people and between people that we do not always understand, but I have someone in my life who feels free to be abusive to me verbally. I have to do for that person. I care about that person, but I do take breaks from them, SPACE to let things calm down. None of us are always at our best. We have to forgive and forget. In my Christian faith we are commanded to forgive as Christ forgave us or we are not forgiven. This is a tall bill, but God helps and it means forgiving all over again every time the hurt comes up in our minds and hearts..........the only way I know to overcome it is to pray for the person who harmed me. Some of us have great big horrible hurts to forgive and some of us have every day hurts to forgive, but they won't stop happening unless we learn how to handle them. They tell salesmen to ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES." It means to let it go, Let it roll off us like water off a ducks back! Don't let it impact us. Just be kind and don't let it bother you. The worst thing would be to hold it against her and make the atmosphere in the apartment that you live in stay anxious and full of stress! God Bless you as you navigate. Everything is a learning experience.........a training ground of sorts.....we always do better the next time a thing happens because we got more practice in dealing with unkindness before..........She just does not know how much you navigate through just to get through each day. We do need to talk about it, but some people do not want to hear it..........remember she has deficits from mental illness and is not as able to be gracious......and think about another person's needs.
