Impaired social cognition in multiple sclerosis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23315621

Oh goodie.

As if it weren't enough that our bodies turn on us and make us dependent, and our minds lose things and start storing socks in the freezer and ice cream in the hall cupboard, it appears that we lose the ability to interact appropriately with the people around us, often the very people we need to keep us from falling apart.

This study looked at how people with MS responded to a film of four people sitting around a dinner table having a discussion. At various points in the movie, it is stopped and the patient is asked to identify the emotion being expressed by the person at the table.

Apparently we don't do so well at that.

Like autistic people...we seem to lose the ability to read people's faces appropriately, which might account for a few mixed experiences I've had lately.

Of course, this study also gives us an excuse for misunderstanding people. We can just trot out the statement, "Remember - we MSers fail the MASC! You have to tell me what you are thinking!"

Finally, a reason to have real discussions, instead of being expected to read minds.

Huzzah!

Cheeriness, or how not to constantly spit

Today I arrived at church with my dress on inside out. I knew it was a bad day, that I wasn't fully functional, but that's the first time that had happened.
Totally shrinkingly embarassing. So I laughed and made light of it, joked about my drunken walk to communion (my balance is off, too) but one has to wonder what people think.
Sigh.
So  try to laugh and be amusing but inside I am curling into myself and wishing I could vanish.
I'm just waiting for the moment I become incontinent and don't realize it. Hoo hah.
But I'm sure I'll make a joke out of it.

The global view

I've always prided myself on my ability to scan information and grasp the big picture - like a hawk circling on high, I always seemed to be able to see patterns and goals and obstacles clearly.
This just isn't working any more for me.
It's come on slowly, sneakily.  First, I've lost the ability to read medical studies and grasp them without several go-overs. Now I find it harder and harder to see patterns in Scrabble or to figure out spatial problems or see things in a holistic way. Driving becomes a series of small steps, trying to organize my finances slips away.  It's not that I'm becoming senile or anything, I think.  I just seem to have a bit of a traffic snarl in the part of my brain that follows patterns through.
On the good side, I forget stories that I've read almost immediately, so I can reread them again and again. On the bad side, I have 40 packages of spaghetti in my cupboard. I know I should make a list. But that's admitting there's a problem.
I find it frustrating to be losing my analytical ability, my big picture thinking, my sense of global understanding. Of course, maybe I was just fooling myself that I had those abilities, but my degrees say no...
Practically speaking, maybe it means I should concentrate on short stories instead of novels for writing, focus on simpler tasks, do brain training, keep up with the exercise. All I know is that the thought of ever having to manage a workday again seems impossible. How would I keep track of all the things I had to do?
Oh, and also on the positive side, my wobblies are back, so I have the advantage of looking vaguely drunk if I don't concentrate on walking. Saves on actually having to buy the booze!