b' Euphoria A person experiencing euphoria is unrealistically positive. They are unable to bedisturbed by anything distressing, even when it should cause them reasonable concern. Euphoria may cause a person to overestimate their own abilities, dismissimportant issues, or respond inappropriately to problems. Disinhibited behaviorAppropriate inhibitions help us restrain ourselves, particularly in interactions withothers. A person experiencing a loss of inhibitions may lose the ability to restraintheir impulses. This might be an issue with verbal disinhibition (talking too much,interrupting, saying rude things), sexual disinhibition (losing ones own sexualboundaries or ignoring the boundaries of others), or general problems with impulsecontrol. Lack of initiativeWhile a lack of initiative can be a symptom of depression, it can also occur on itsown. When a person is experiencing lack of initiative, they may lose the ability toself-motivate. Once they are prompted to begin something, they may have no problem completing the task, but they cannot begin without prompting. This cancause loved ones to mistakenly assume the person is being lazy. Lack of insightA person aected by lack of insight may lose the ability to judge the consequencesof their actions, or to understand how their words or actions aect others. Lackof insight frequently appears with other personality changes, leaving peopleunaware of how these behavioral changes are aecting their lives and relationships.Personality changes can have profound eects. They can damage relationships,interfere with work or school, and impair social functioning. If a person is not awarethat personality changes can be a direct result of lesions in the brain, they mayblame themselves or question their own motives if they nd themselves behavinguncharacteristically. If family members are not aware, they may become angry orhurt by behaviors that are out of their loved ones control. Knowing MS can causepersonality changes is therefore the rst step in preventing their damaging eects. LLiisstteennttooYYoouurrLLoovveeddOOnneessAs human beings, we have a tendency to rationalize our own behavior. Forexample, if a loved one says You seem angry all the time, you might think,Well, I have a lot to be angry about. But when it comes to MS and personalitychanges, its important to listen to your loved ones if they see a change in yourbehavior or mood. Family and friends are often the rst ones to notice MS-relatedpersonality changes, and sometimes the same lesions that are causing the problemleave the person with MS unable to recognize the change themselves.7'