Six MS charities have joined forces to call for better mental health services for people living with MS.
The six charities, MS Trust, MS Society, MS-UK, shift.MS, Overcoming MS and the MS Therapy Centres, conducted careful, in-depth interviews to learn more about the mental health experiences of the MS community. The interview questions were developed through co-production with people with MS and explore issues including feelings at diagnosis, peer support, relationships with family and friends and experiences of dealing with health professionals.
The interviewees kindly shared their feelings of grief, shame, exhaustion and distress. The wealth of personal experience in these interviews shows just how diverse the connections between MS and mental health can be, and how limited mental health services are for people with MS.
The joint policy position produced by six charities working together calls for neurology services to develop better access to talking therapies, for neurology teams to be better trained in mental health awareness and support, and for mental health reviews to be part of the holistic needs assessment of people affected by MS.
We also recognise that support services need to include people who care for loved ones with MS, who can be equally impacted by mental health concerns.
You can read the joint policy position on mental health and MS (PDF, 370KB).
This research has also highlighted where the different MS charities can develop self-management resources for families and friends, and how we can better represent the full range of experiences with MS.
This MS Awareness Week, the MS Trust worked with six other MS charities to raise awareness of this problem and to empower people with MS to talk honestly about the way that MS can make you feel.
We have also published our own complementary report, Life changing: mental health and MS, that looks in detail at the scale of the unmet need for mental health support.
If you or someone you know are struggling with mental health problems as a result of living with MS, you can find organisations that offer emotional support or get in touch with our MS Trust helpline on 0800 32 3839 or ask@mstrust.org.uk
