b'Symptom ManagementClearing CognitiveCobwebsBy Jerey N. GingoldWritten a letter lately? If you tried to write familiar faces, locations, memories, and vitalone on a desk packed with les, books, bills, details was unreliable.and old newspapers, then you understand In your MS life have you ever thoughtenvironmental distraction. Then the phone rings multitasking is now easier? Probably not. Forand you feel the urge to check for e-mails and me, being easily distracted obscures my abilitytexts, knowing that the cat litter should still be torecall previously understood information,tasks,changed. Its already noon. Your mind cant and conversations. By the time I ask the worldcompartmentalize simple tasks, while MS to stop interrupting my chain of thought, itsfatigue drags you down like a thick tangle of too late to recall the rest the sentence. Gonecobwebs. Mental diversions atten your MS- without a hint.diminished energy and you havent yet Simple distractions are devious, silentlyaccomplished one meaningful daily chore.piling up like coats of attic dust. RepeatedlyBeing diagnosed with MS is complicated fretting about overstued drawers, book pilesand its life path is crowded with symptoms, on shelves, and stacked boxes of unknownexacerbations, medical appointments, and family papers adds to your MS load. Repeatedlytherapies. Completing a simple project in your staring down cluttered spaces in your homeMS-hampered world requires energy and focus. drains mental reserve and interrupts yourMSphysicalandcognitivedisabilitiesare focus. compounded by simultaneously coping with One way to manage cognitive distractionsboth sets of impairments. Unfortunately, you in your surroundings is to remove them. Ifdont get to choose enduring one disabling your surroundings are less distracting, then youpath over the other. Nope.are more ecient with your depleted cognitiveInitially, MS handed physical disability to awareness. Dont waste time struggling to seeme. From my scalp and down to my toes, through layers of cobwebs, remove them.numbness surfaced on the left side of my Pilesbody, along with loss of equilibrium, taste, Everyone probably has cluttered cornersand vision. Like a clich commercial for an of their household that should be reorganized.unwanted product: but wait, theres more! Identifying and clearing your environment isAfter cognitive testing, I was informed my a key to better managing your MS. Cognitiveexecutivefunctionswereaected,buried cobwebs tangle and drain your attention. under fatigue and slowed mental processing. DeclutteringyourenvironmentclearsIt explained why my ability to recognize your mind like cleaning smeared eyeglassesmsfocusmagazine.org 34'