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

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

To better understand the psychological footprint that this pathology can leave on people, We interviewed the psychologist Sara Laso, who in addition to experiencing MS on her own skin, she knows it through many of the patients she treatsof her, that they choose her as a therapist among other things because she understands them on a deeper level.

• Related article: "Multiple Sclerosis: Types, Symptoms, and Possible Causes"

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 treats many patients who also have the disease that affects her: multiple sclerosis. In this interview she tells 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, it had been approximately 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 this news as a grieving process, at least in your case?

Is a duel In all rules. 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, since 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 something you have lost, that something has changed, and with these approaches comes fear.

Stereotypes and myths about psychotherapy can be especially damaging in such situations. Have you come to feel pressure to overcome emotionally before the disease, for the simple fact of being a psychologist?

Being a psychologist, both for this disease and any other circumstance that we live, does not help. People around you have a tendency to make statements like "you are strong", "you can get out of this because you have tools ”… It is as if they forgot that in addition to being a psychologist, I am a person, with their fears, uncertainties and discomforts emotional

In what ways 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 basis that few people know what it is, they are confused with other diseases or simply underestimate it when they see that you are visually fine.

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

When offering professional support to people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, is it common for patients to come to the first session simply hoping to be able to talk to someone who understands them, without actually considering that psychotherapy may be more useful and Benefits? Cases like this can have advantages but perhaps also some drawbacks.

In my case, I am known as a psychologist who has multiple sclerosis, so from the outset the patient arrives with the conviction that they will be understood.

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

Patients who call me ask for help, and having a professional with MS helps them connect more quickly. In addition, it helps them to see that their therapist continues to work, continues to have goals, thus greatly facilitating psychotherapeutic work.

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

Family is essential 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 communicated to their relatives that they suffer from MS, they are afraid of the "drama". In this sense, it would be essential that after the diagnosis, a team of psychologists help the patient to transmit the information and, above all, to carry out a psychoeducation to the family about said disease. Family is the main support.

And when it comes to 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, through psychotherapy I help them to understand the disease, to eliminate distortions (most consider to stop working, to leave 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 leave the couple because they feel dependents)... So the first thing I do is a psychoeducation process.

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