Low self-esteem and MS : challenging the invisible

Having MS can affect self-esteem. There may be times when it’s difficult to do everything a person is used to doing, or they may have to do things differently. Focusing too much on these negative aspects can feel overwhelming.

To break down some of the stigma around the emotional changes, mental health and MS, we worked with our member organisations to produce a one minute animated infographic. It introduces some of the invisible challenges that people with MS can face and gives some confidence boosters and tips for managing low self-esteem.

MSIF’s approach to information resources is to adapt and repurpose the brilliant materials that already exist across the movement, rather than reinventing the wheel. So this is why the text in the infographic comes from the UK MS Society’s booklet ‘MS and your emotions: understanding and dealing with your feelings’ and the graphics have been adapted from the 2019 World MS Day campaign, My Invisible MS.

Members of MSIF’s International Resource Group – which is made up of staff and volunteers from eight countries around the world – worked together to develop the script and designs for the infographic.

We launched the infographic in English on World Mental Health Day (10 October) and since then, the MSIF movement has risen to the challenge of making it accessible to people across the movement. Already, MS organisations have translated and adapted the infographic into ten languages, with many more adaptations in the pipeline.

Low self-esteem and MS (English)

Baja autoestima y EM (Spanish)

Autoestima e Esclerose Multipla (Portuguese)

التصلب المتعدد وتقديرك لنفسك (Arabic)

Psychologiczne aspekty SM – samoocena (Polish)

MS en een laag zelfbeeld (Dutch)

Sclérose en plaques et estime de soi (French)

טרשת נפוצה והערכה עצמית נמוכה (Hebrew)

Рассеянный склероз и низкая самооценка (Russian)

MS and low self-esteem (Indonesian)

एमएस और आत्मसम्मान का अभाव (Hindi)

ఎం స్ మరియు ఆత్మసమ్మానం లోపించుట (Telugu)

ایم ایس اور احساسِ کمتری (Urdu)

ਐਮ ਐਸ ਤੇ ਘੱਟ ਸਵੈ ਮਾਣ  (Punjabi)

এম এস আর আত্মসম্মান । (Bengali)

If you’re interested in finding out more about translations, contact Victoria Gilbert on info@msif.org.

If you haven’t already shared the infographic, you are welcome to use it in your own networks. You can use it as a tool to start a conversation with your community about emotional changes and MS, or perhaps to direct people to further information on the topic on your own website or elsewhere.

This is the first in a wider series of infographics on MS, mental health and emotional changes. Sign up to MS Connections to hear about the next resources on the topic as they are launched.