Multiple sclerosis entered my life at a time when very few people had even heard of it. When I was diagnosed, the messages surrounding MS were frightening and often conflicting: you are going to end up in a wheelchair, you will never have children, your life will never be the same.

Without much support or understanding, I decided to brush it off and carry on. One of the first things my doctor told me was that I couldn't become a journalist. I was at my first year at university and had just decided to major in journalism.

“The job is too stressful for you,” he said. “My daughter is also a journalist and she had to leave her job because it was too demanding. You can't be a journalist with MS.”

In many ways, that became another reason I chose to ignore the diagnosis. I was never going to give up journalism. That was not always easy when some mornings I woke up unable to walk properly or struggling to keep my balance.

But I was determined to keep going. I told almost no one, partly because I was afraid I would lose my job, but mostly because I did not want pity. I wanted to be known as the journalist, not “the one with that strange disease.” My mother used to call it “SMS,” and after a while I stopped correcting her because it made me laugh.

It took me two years in the UK to finally receive a proper diagnosis, and for a long time MS was something I carried quietly and privately.

For some people, this approach works for a while, especially during periods of remission, when symptoms are under control. But remission can last years, months or sometimes only days. Then comes the first major relapse.

And when you have spent years pretending everything is fine, refusing to talk about it or ask for help, it can be devastating. At the time, there was no one to talk to.

Today, many years later, something has shifted. Not only is my mother now proudly pronouncing “multiple sclerosis” correctly, no acronym at all, but people are finally talking about it openly. Almost everyone I speak to knows someone living with MS. There are groups, support networks and conversations that simply did not exist when I was diagnosed.

Much of that change in the UAE has been driven by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. For many people living with MS, the society has been life-changing. It has created something that did not exist before: a sense of community. For the first time, people with MS are meeting others who truly understand what they are going through.

There are support groups, awareness campaigns, research initiatives and open conversations that are helping people feel less alone.

The society is also investing in something many of us never thought possible when we were first diagnosed: hope for the future.

One of the things I was told when I was diagnosed was not to have children because they, too, could develop MS (I also chose to ignore that).

There is still no cure for the condition, but knowing that the National Multiple Sclerosis Society has earmarked Dh11 million for research and the search for a cure is extraordinary. For the first time, it feels possible to imagine a future where MS may one day be preventable, treatable in entirely new ways, or perhaps even cured.

MS can be deeply isolating, especially for people like me who spent years hiding it. Stress and depression affect our condition, and there is nothing more exhausting than trying to conceal part of who you are.

I often wonder how different those early years would have been if something like the National Multiple Sclerosis Society had existed back then. If there had been someone to call, someone who understood, or simply proof that life could continue normally after diagnosis. For the next generation of people living with MS, that support and that hope now exist.

Thank you for reading.

'It is not a death sentence': MS patients in the UAE share their journeys on life with disease

Every May 30, World Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Day shines a spotlight on the realities of living with MS, a chronic neurological condition that affects the brain and spinal cord and can disrupt everything from movement and vision to balance, energy and speech.

This year’s theme, My MS Diagnosis: Navigating MS Together, focuses on the uncertainty and emotional toll many people face after diagnosis and the importance of support systems, early detection and better awareness surrounding the condition.

In the UAE, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society has spent the past four years trying to build exactly that.

Established in 2023, the organisation works to improve the lives of people living with MS through advocacy, awareness campaigns, scientific research, support programmes and workplace inclusion initiatives.

This year, the society is marking World MS Day with a nationwide campaign spanning healthcare facilities, workplaces, cafés and community spaces across the UAE.

For many patients, one of the hardest parts is not only the disease itself, but the isolation that often comes with it.

“I actually woke up in the middle of the night from numbness in my leg,” said 26-year-old event planner Rayan Daboul.

“Then it started spreading throughout my hand and reached my scalp. At first, I was in denial."

Did you know?

The UAE has unveiled plans to waive Dh834 million ($227 million) of interest payments on loans owed by thousands of low-income Emirati retirees under a drive to boost living standards and strengthen family stability. Read more here

President Sheikh Mohamed approves unified medical insurance for Emiratis across UAE

President Sheikh Mohamed has directed the adoption of a health system that guarantees comprehensive medical care for Emiratis anywhere in the UAE.

The new system was created with the aim of “ensuring universal access to high-quality health care for all citizens”.

Health insurance for Emiratis was previously restricted to the emirate from which they were from.

Ahmed Al Sayegh, Minister of Health and Prevention, said the new system reflects “a national vision that places human health and quality of life at the heart of the UAE's development priorities”.

Abu Dhabi focused on unique houses for future generations of Emiratis

There is no one-size-fits-all style of housing for the Emiratis of the future, a property expert has said.

New communities are being developed with an eye on offering choice and customisation rather than identikit housing for all, Shamsa Al Maeeni, project manager at Abu Dhabi Housing Authority, told The National.

A goal of the ADHA is to lessen the distinction between Emirati and non-Emirati neighbourhoods, she said.

She offered Yas Canal as an example. The upcoming project will have housing for nationals and non-nationals with the aim of attracting a diverse range of people who want a more open, rather than private, community.

“The community itself would be mixed between locals and non-locals, and that's what the country is aiming and looking forward in the future,” Ms Al Maeeni said.

“When we come and design a master plan, we try to prevent creating repetitive villas. This is why we have different types.

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