A sense of humor is a powerful act of resistance when living with MS

Laughter really is the best medicine

by Desiree Lama | October 8, 2025

Living with multiple sclerosis (MS) can sometimes feel like living with a trickster who changes the rules without warning just to amuse himself. One day, you are walking fine, and the next, your legs feel like they’ve been replaced with overcooked spaghetti.

There’s fatigue, brain fog, and the occasional “Did I just forget that word again?” moment. It’s a lot to deal with. But that unpredictability can be accompanied by a quiet, powerful tool that often gets overlooked: humor. Because, after all, laughter really can be the best medicine.

Humor doesn’t make symptoms disappear, but it can transform how we experience them and get through our days. Laughing at life’s absurdities gives us back a sense of control when so much about MS feels uncertain.

When you can joke about tripping over nothing or getting tongue-tied mid-sentence, you’re not minimizing your reality; you are reclaiming it and making it your own. You’re saying, “MS may mess with my body, but it doesn’t get to mess with my spirit.” Humor can help shift the focus from pain to presence, from frustration to connection. It invites joy back into a space that illness tries to crowd out.

Living with multiple sclerosis (MS) can sometimes feel like living with a trickster who changes the rules without warning just to amuse himself. One day, you are walking fine, and the next, your legs feel like they’ve been replaced with overcooked spaghetti.

There’s fatigue, brain fog, and the occasional “Did I just forget that word again?” moment. It’s a lot to deal with. But that unpredictability can be accompanied by a quiet, powerful tool that often gets overlooked: humor. Because, after all, laughter really can be the best medicine.

Humor doesn’t make symptoms disappear, but it can transform how we experience them and get through our days. Laughing at life’s absurdities gives us back a sense of control when so much about MS feels uncertain.

When you can joke about tripping over nothing or getting tongue-tied mid-sentence, you’re not minimizing your reality; you are reclaiming it and making it your own. You’re saying, “MS may mess with my body, but it doesn’t get to mess with my spirit.” Humor can help shift the focus from pain to presence, from frustration to connection. It invites joy back into a space that illness tries to crowd out.

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