Tips for children with MS

Are you a young person diagnosed with MS? Or maybe you are worried that you might have multiple sclerosis.

You are not the only one. It can be good to chat about your MS and how you feel about it, especially if you feel stressed or upset. Find someone who is easy to talk to, who you like and trust and who will listen to what you say. It could be someone in your family, a friend, teacher, counsellor or health professional. Talking about your feelings can be the first step to sorting out what’s worrying you.

In this video, Sam, who lives with MS, offers some advice on the best ways to talk to your friends about MS.

When it comes to talking to good friends, there aren't many topics that are off limits. But MS can be hard to discuss even with your closest friends.

Sam

Here are some tips from teenagers living with MS:

If you don’t understand something about MS, see if someone can explain it.
There’s lots of help and support out there. Make sure you ask for it.
Don’t make any big decisions in a hurry. Everyone’s MS is different so see what life with MS is like for you over months or even a year or more.
Having MS doesn’t automatically stop you doing things. You can still have ambitions and achievements in life.
Sometimes you might need to do things in a different way, maybe by having more rests, or waiting until a relapse has finished.
Probably, your friends and classmates will never have heard of MS and won’t understand straight away. Even if they know someone with MS, everyone’s MS is different so you might like to tell them about what MS is like for you.
The same is true for your family. They will be learning about your MS too, and they might be upset or worried for you.
Tackle your stress especially at exam time.
If you are worrying about not fitting in or feeling different because of your MS, try not to worry. Everyone is different and having MS is only one kind of different.
Other children live with long term medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hay fever or allergies. They might have to take medication, use an inhaler, go for hospital appointments or miss school sometimes. Do you know anyone like this?
If someone doesn’t understand about MS, could you give them some information, maybe a leaflet or a link? Perhaps they just need more time to think it through.