Positive Thinking and MS Disease

Positive Thinking and Multiple Sclerosis World MS Day is observed every 30 May. Ahead of World Multiple Sclerosis Day, which will be celebrated this year between 23-28 May with various events under the leadership of the Turkey MS Association, a press conference was held on Tuesday, 17 May under the leadership of the Turkey MS Association. The conference took place at the Radisson Blu hotel in Ortaköy, with speakers including Assoc. Prof. Dr. Melih Tütüncü, Chairman of the Board of the Turkey Multiple Sclerosis Association, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serkan Demir, Board Member of the Association, theatre artist Betül Arım, and influencer İrem Yücetepe, who has MS. The events, which will continue for one week under this year's theme of "Positive Thinking", will include live physician broadcasts, influencer interviews, a life skills seminar by Betül Arım featuring excerpts from the play "There's Nothing Outside!" which she has performed for four years, as well as laughter and face yoga workshops held online. At the press conference organized within the scope of the "My MS Journey" project launched by the Turkey MS Association in 2020 to raise public awareness about MS, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Melih Tütüncü, Chairman of the Board of the Turkey Multiple Sclerosis Association, shared the following remarks on the subject: "As the Turkey Multiple Sclerosis Association, within the scope of the 'My MS Journey' project we launched two years ago, this year we are also aiming to both boost patients' morale through online events and live broadcasts and raise awareness by informing society. There is no room for despair or baseless pessimism. With 'positive thinking' as our theme this year, we aim to guide both MS patients and their families. We believe that approaching the disease from a more positive rather than negative perspective and believing in the power of positive thinking will positively affect their quality of life. As the Turkey MS Association, we want this project to make a positive contribution to raising awareness by reaching not only MS patients and their families but also people from all walks of society." he stated. At the conference, theatre artist Betül Arım also supported MS patients by sharing from her own life examples and stories about how the greatest gift we can give ourselves is self-knowledge and self-affirmation, the importance of staying present and in love, and the importance of a positive perspective in fighting disease. Saying "We are both our friend and our enemy," Arım continued: "We are a society that asks 'what will people say', but I have truly discovered that there is nothing outside and the outside world cannot provide me with a solution. When I realized this about 20 years ago, I started looking for healing within myself. The most powerful energy in the universe is thought. If we reduce negative thoughts in our minds and increase positive ones, we prepare our bodies for positive experiences. Many things we call bad today return as life experiences for which we will be grateful. As our master Shakespeare said, there is no good or evil; thought makes it so." she stated.