Everybody gets angry. It’s part of who we are as living beings. But does having Multiple Sclerosis compound, elevate and intensify this reality?
As two people living with MS, we wholeheartedly say yes, yes it does. In true MS speak, we believe that the disease plays a part in exacerbating our sense of anger. And there is research and professional opinions to support our first-person experiences of turning minor concerns into major issues.
You know, those little annoyances you should be able to handle? Well, those moments quickly cause us to fly off the handle. Things like losing a hand of electronic Euchre or trying for 10 minutes to close a supposedly resealable storage bag can trigger us to fits of frustration that ruin what previously was a good day.
It wasn’t like this before we had MS… On second thought, maybe it kind of was, but not as bad as it is now.
We had a good conversation about this in our recent A Couple Takes on MS Podcast episode, “Anger and MS.” In it, along with our producer, Ryan, we talk about the trials and tribulations we’ve encountered because of the disease and ways that we’ve overcome them and continue to control our angry moments.
We do seem to have shorter fuses than we used to. And while Dan often says we shouldn’t give MS more credit than it deserves, here are some great articles that we referenced in our podcast that explain why this chronic progressive disease should share some of the blame for moments of irrational irritations and more.
• Emotional Changes (National MS Society) – This post gets into discussions about the benefits of healthy grieving as well as the hows and whys behind the role MS plays in intensifying our levels of stress, generalized anxiety and irritability.
• Understanding and Managing Multiple Sclerosis and Mood Swings (Healthline) – Here is a great and comprehensive look at the often overlooked emotional impacts of MS, including mood swings and emotional instability.
Working on this episode of our podcast really got me thinking more deeply about MS and its impact on Dan and my patience (or instantaneous lack thereof!). This led me to another helpful article that I wish I would have discovered before we recorded this episode. 11 Anger Management Strategies to Help You Calm Down is posted on verywellmind.com and it provides some solid coping techniques to deal with anger.
It states, “Managing your anger doesn’t mean never getting angry. Instead, it involves learning how to recognize, cope with, and express your anger in healthy and productive ways. Anger management is a skill that everyone can learn. Even if you think you have your anger under control, there’s always room for improvement.”
I encourage you to check out these articles as well as to listen to our podcast on our website or through your favorite podcast app. Here’s how to you can subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode and can write a review to let us know how we’re doing and what you’d like us to talk about:
• Apple
• Spotify
• Stitcher
Here is to more happy (and less anger-filled) days. And when you are angry, I hope these tools help 🙂