MS is definitely a real illness. However, how each person is affected is different. Some people have a mild illness others have severe disability and difficulty, and some are somewhere in the middle. Even Doctors find prognosticating MS really difficult. It sounds hard if people close to you are downplaying your illness. It could be denial 🤷‍♀️. Difficult to understand their reaction. However, that doesn’t help you. Discussing how you feel might be helpful.

I can only share that when I told my parents about MS, my father commented about a woman he knows who had MS for 20 years and she is still very active and basically unaffected. I remember feeling hurt, because it sounded like he was saying, “no big deal”. Au contraire, MS is a big deal! And that’s great that some people have a ‘mild case’—but for most of us this experience has been much more of a battle. Maybe it is a family member’s denial…or they want to say something positive and can’t think of anything good. My feeling was, “look, just because I’m not breaking down emotionally and not sobbing in front of you, doesn’t mean that I’m not feeling turmoil and fear on the inside. You may find that the best most supportive reactions come from those who are not necessarily your family or household members. Seek out those supportive people who legitimately care for your feelings and fears. In addition, tell God about your feelings and fears and know that hears you and he knows exactly how you are hurting.