b'Hot TopicsSSuuiicciiddeeaannddMMSSBy Cherie C. BinnsDepending upon which statistics you look Some of you who are familiar with myat, suicide rates in people living with multiple story know that it took 19 years for me to besclerosis are anywhere from two to four times diagnosed with MS, and another seven yearshigher than they are in the general population. to get onto a DMT. During that entire periodEarlierthisyear,welookedatthemental of more than 25 years, I struggled with severehealth components and outcomes that were depression, and the thought that life would bediscussed at the 2019 CMSC (Consortium of better for those I cared about if I was gone, wasMultiple Sclerosis Centers) annual meeting. constant. I was on a series of antidepressantIn the MS population, rates are not only medications during those years and none ofhigher for suicide but also for bipolar disease, them took those thoughts away. As thingsdepression, and anxiety. Our neurologists and became harder to do as a result of the MS,primary care doctors are more aware, more those feelings got more intense. These feelingsalert, and more proactive in diagnosing and and thoughts began to ease when I went ontreating this today than they were even ten my rst DMT, but a couple of years later, whenyears ago, but we also have to be honest and I changed medication to something that hadopen with them about how we are feeling. a higher ecacy (more eective at calminginflammationandslowingrelapserate),Why are the rates of mental illness so high those feelings began to peel back. I have notin this community? There are some theories had to deal with these dark thoughts (whichthat with frontal lobe lesions (the area of the sap my energy as much as any physical painbrain that is responsible for our emotions) we can) for nearly 15 years. That change, I canare more prone to problems than someone clearly date back to when I got on a DMT thateven with ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease), which was eective (for me).takes so much more and far more quickly What kept me from taking my life whenthan untreated MS does, since the frontal lobe the thoughts were there day in and day out?is not aected in that condition. Even with no I have to say that there were a number ofdetectable lesions in the frontal lobe, rates of things. I have a faith system that supportedthese conditions (depression, anxiety, bipolar, me. I knew that I was loved even if I did notandsuicide)arehigher,likelydueto feel loveable. As a nurse, I have seen manyinammation in the central nervous system. suicide attempts go badly with the individualThat must be brought under control for these being in worse condition (and surviving) thanfeelings to stabilize. For most of us, that means they were before the attempt. I certainly did notgetting on and staying on a disease-modifying want that! I had children to consider. I hadtherapy.Sometimes,gettinginammation extended family who would have beenunder control works as well or better than devastated. There was a part of me that couldmedications such as antidepressants and still connect with these reasons to not act onanti-anxiety medications. my feelings.msfocusmagazine.org 32'