Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence
Living Your Best Life with Multiple Sclerosis
National MS Society
People with MS want to know what they can do today to feel their best, and if lifestyle interventions such as diet, stress-management, and physical activity, have any benefits in reducing the impact of the disease. Over the years the concept of health has evolved to include a dynamic sense of well-being across multiple dimensions of life.
Wellness is attainable for everyone, even when living with a chronic illness. Achieving health and wellness is a lifelong process in which people make intentional choices, set personal priorities, and engage in health-promoting activities. Intentional choices include choosing the foods you eat, choosing whether to smoke, choosing to spend time with friends and family, choosing to engage in physical activity, devoting time to intellectual stimulation, and more.
Making healthy choices that promote satisfaction in the various dimensions of wellness can help you attain a sense of well-being and life satisfaction. Here is what we mean by the ‘dimensions of wellness’:
Physical: Making positive lifestyle choices about regular movement geared to one’s abilities (such as walking, swimming, and yoga), healthy eating, regular engagement with one’s healthcare team, and preventive health behaviors (including smoking cessation, limited alcohol use, and attention to personal safety).
Social: Developing positive, healthy relationships that nurture connections with family, friends, and community.
Emotional: Developing coping strategies to enhance problem solving, manage stress, foster a positive outlook, and develop resilience in the face of unpredictable changes, while paying attention to mood changes, such as depression and anxiety, that may require treatment.
Occupational: Engaging in meaningful and rewarding activities that promote a sense of purpose and accomplishment, including opportunities to contribute one’s unique skills, talents, and knowledge to others at home, at work, or in the community.
Spiritual: Developing a world view that provides a sense of peace and harmony, enabling one to cope and adapt throughout life - with the ultimate goal of finding meaning and purpose in the face of one’s personal challenges.
Intellectual: Engaging in mentally stimulating and challenging activities that lead to personal growth, enhanced creativity, and new learning.
As people manage their MS, they want to understand the role of conventional medicine, including disease-modifying therapies and symptom management medications, as well as how they can integrate lifestyle interventions and complementary approaches to maximize their well-being. They may wonder about the impact of a specific diet or exercise regime on MS or about the potential benefit (or harm) of other approaches like vitamin supplements, probiotics, or acupuncture. Many have felt frustrated by a lack of support from health care professionals, who say there is not sufficient scientific evidence to provide guidance, or who may not have the time or expertise to discuss it with their patients.
While many things may feel beyond one’s control when living with an unpredictable and chronic disease like MS, exerting control over your personal lifestyle behaviors can help alleviate feelings of helplessness. Setting your own personal wellness objectives and discussing them with your health care providers are the first steps to maximizing your well-being. Some tips for incorporating wellness behaviors into everyday life include:
- Make time to relax every day, even if only for 10-15 minutes - listen to music, utilize breathing techniques, listen to a guided relaxation meditation
- Consider making a small healthy change or addition to your diet - replace dessert with a piece of fruit twice per week, try a new vegetable once per week
- Explore how yoga, tai chi, or another physical activity can be modified for your level of ability and interest
- Make a plan to regularly enjoy time with friends or family - watch a movie together, enjoy a meal together, take a walk together
- Listen to an audiobook, attend a lecture, take an online course, visit the museum - stimulate your curiosity and enhance your intellectual well-being
Resources about wellness and MS, including information about diets that have been explored for MS, exercise and physical activity, mindfulness, and other strategies can be found at www.nationalmssociety.org/Living-Well-With-MS. For additional information about MS, please contact the National MS Society at (800) 344-4867.
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