There is an equally profound set of losses for the people who care for and depend upon the person whose life is so dramatically changed. In my years reading MS bulletin boards on the Internet and sitting in on chats, I've read many moving stories of support, of families coming through for the one who is diagnosed, as well as many painful losses experienced by those close to the one with MS because of how close they were and are. I've also read many painful stories of how badly families cope and how much pain they cause with any number of misunderstandings, misinformation and superstitiousness. MS can be devastating to everyone touched by it. People with MS can be terribly disabled, needing help with eating, bathing, dressing, or they can look fine and have only rare difficulties like mild fatigue or numbness that may be visible only to themselves.
Symptoms can fall anywhere in between.
How individual loved ones react at any point in the diagnostic process or during the progression of the illness covers an even larger spectrum. While I don't expect there will be much that can be done to protect people with MS or their families from some of the initial reactions that are both normal and sometimes inevitable, there are many ways that family members can learn to cope. Initially, most people with MS are frightened and often sad and depressed. Getting MS is a great loss, greater for some then for others, but never easy. Families share these reactions.