Sara Laso: "Multiple sclerosis does not prevent you from enjoying life".

We spoke with Sara Laso, who knows MS firsthand and also through her patients.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that, in addition to being relatively common, often appears in young people, so it arises at a time of life when there is a lot of work activity.

To learn more about the psychological impact that this pathology can have on people, we interviewed psychologist Sara Laso, who, in addition to experiencing MS in her own skin, knows it through many of the patients she treats.The psychologist, who chooses her as a therapist among other things because she understands them at a deeper level.

Interview with Sara Laso: the psychological implications of multiple sclerosis

Sara Laso Lozano is a writer and General Health Psychologist with a practice in Badalona, where she sees many patients who also have the disease that affects her: multiple sclerosis. In this interview she talks to us about her experience experiencing this pathology directly and also from the perspective of those who come to her therapy sessions.

Under what circumstances did you get the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis?

At that time I was working, I had been working for about 3 years since I had opened my psychology practice, so I was in a stable moment both professionally and personally.

Do you think it is useful or appropriate to understand the psychological impact caused by that news as a grieving process, at least in your case?

It is a full-fledged mourning. When you are diagnosed with this disease, which is diagnosed as a serious disease and considering that there is currently no cure, you feel a loss.

You are in a stable stage of your life, because generally the diagnosis of MS oscillates in your thirties. You rethink what will change, what you will have to modify, what you will lose... You feel that you have lost something, that something has changed, and with these thoughts comes fear.

Stereotypes and myths about psychotherapy can cause special damage in situations like this. Have you ever felt pressure to overcome the disease emotionally, simply because you are a psychologist?

Being a psychologist, both for this disease and for any other circumstance we experience, does not help. People around you tend to make statements such as "you are strong", "you can get out of this because you have the tools"... It is as if they forget that in addition to being a psychologist, I am a person, with my fears, uncertainties and emotional discomfort.

In what aspects have you noticed that people with multiple sclerosis are less understood by those who have not developed such a disease?

Well, it really is a disease that, although it is the second disease that causes disability in young people, is little understood. We start from the assumption that few people know what it is, they confuse it with other diseases or simply underestimate it when they see that visually you are fine.

MS is the disease of a thousand faces, so there are many invisible symptoms. It is not necessary to be in a wheelchair to suffer from it. There are many other non-visible symptoms that only the patient knows about, making it more complex for people who have not developed the disease or simply do not know enough to understand it.

When offering professional support to people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, is it common for patients to arrive at the first session expecting simply to be able to talk to someone who understands them, without considering that psychotherapy can have more benefits and advantages? Cases like this can have advantages but perhaps also some disadvantages.

In my case, I am known as a psychologist with multiple sclerosis, so the patient comes in with the conviction that they will be understood.

It is easier for them to talk to a professional who also has MS. I am fortunate that my MS patients come with the thought of needing help and rethink psychotherapy as a viable option. I have not met a patient today who does not want psychotherapy.

The patients who call me ask for help and having a professional with MS helps them bond in a faster way. Also, it helps them to see that their therapist is still working, still has goals, so it makes the psychotherapeutic work much easier.

From the psychological point of view, what are the main ways in which the family context can help a person with this disease?

The family is fundamental as long as they are aware of what is there and how to treat it. What do I mean? The family member must give the necessary support without dramatizing or underestimating the disease.

I have patients who to this day have not told their family members that they have MS, because they are afraid of the "drama". In that sense, it would be fundamental that after the diagnosis, a team of psychologists would help the patient to transmit the information and above all, to carry out a psychoeducation to the family about the disease. The family is the main support.

And regarding the psychotherapy itself, what are the main aspects in which you notice that people affected by multiple sclerosis benefit from the sessions with you?

First of all, they learn and understand what multiple sclerosis is. Usually, the neurologist tells you that you have this diagnosis and little else. On the other hand, from psychotherapy I help them to understand the disease, to eliminate distortions (most of them consider giving up work, leaving the house where they live to live in places where there is an elevator in case they need a wheelchair in the future, they even abandon their partner because they feel dependent).... So the first thing I do is a process of psychoeducation.

Then I help them to manage their emotions, to verbalize them, to feel them and to channel them in an adaptive way. They are also offered resources when they have to go to the neurologist or have an annual MRI, and even in times of outbreaks of the disease.

The most important thing about psychotherapy is that the patient understands that multiple sclerosis does not prevent them from enjoying life.