News

Karen has found people who really understand her thanks to MS Peer Support

8th April 2022

MS Peer Support connects people like Karen with others who really understand their experience, so people with MS don’t have to live with this disease alone.

Karen says she knows what it’s like to feel lonely and isolated because of MS. Not because she is stuck at home with symptoms or because she doesn’t have family and friends around her, but because she felt like there was no one in her life who really understood what she was going through.

When Karen started connecting with others with MS through the MS Society’s Peer Support program, she found it so invaluable. Through the private Facebook group, she found a safe space to share experiences and ask for advice about MS symptoms.

An activity that really helps Karen cope, is crafting, “I love it because if I’m having a bad day, I can just go down to my craft room, that’s my happy place. Even just half an hour of craft makes me feel better.”

When she first started developing an interest in craft, she really wanted to join a group but she felt embarrassed because she’d often drops things, and she worried that she might be slow and hold up the other members of the group. She thought, ‘if I can’t go to a group, I’ll make my own’.

Karen formed an MS Peer Support group who all get together to craft – they call themselves the MesSy Makers. “You’re sitting doing your thing and you’re chatting and having a laugh. Everyone’s having fun. It’s not stressful, there’s no pressure there. You don’t have to be an expert and you can make a mess.”

There are 24 MS Peer Support groups meeting regularly across South Australia and Northern Territory and over 400 people with MS connect daily on our private Facebook group. Thank you for ensuring that people with MS don’t have to face their MS symptoms alone.

You can learn more about our MS Peer Support groups here.