Reply #50: from the people magazine interview

[pookieblue]

" I was going through this really depressed period where I felt like I was 80 years old, there was nothing I could ever do again and life was over for me. I was of no use to anybody. It wasn't as though I was suicidal, but I was at the point where I thought, Couldn't I please just have cancer and die? "

She opened up about a dark period of her life with MS. I can't judge her for that. I'm glad that she was open with it. Much like Montel told us about how he was sitting in a room with a gun to his head at one point.

For those who don't know. Depression is very real for those with MS. Suicide rates among patients with MS are higher than average.

from WebMD

"Depression may be the result of a difficult situation or stress. It is easy to understand how having MS, with its potential for progressing to permanent disability, can bring on depression.

Depression may be caused by MS. MS may destroy the insulating myelin that surrounds nerves that transmit signals affecting mood.

Depression is also a side effect of some drugs used to treat MS, such as steroids or interferon. "

While I am no fan of Mitt Romney. I'm glad that she was able to be open about her experinces with MS.

I run a small MS support group locally, I have noticed that many people with MS, are actually ashamed to have been diagnosed with it. Some feel alone and isolated from the world. I have, along with a few others, have been trying to reach out to the community. to let them know, they don't have to fight this alone.

It doesn't help, however...to have a local DJ be on air cracking jokes about people with MS, not long after Richard Pryor died.