Singles with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) face unique financial and social challenges when compared to their counterparts with other family members. When help is needed to hold things together, it can be difficult to find.
Shopping - When a single person cannot shop, there are no family members to assist.
Financial - When a single person can no longer work, there is no other recourse for income from other family members to help cover basic necessities such as food, shelter, and medical care.
Doctor Visits - Family members attending medical appointments often provide an air of patient credibility that is compromised when one sees a physician alone. In addition, since many doctors offices are unsafe environments, family members can assist by communicating with the doctor when the individual with MCS is compromised.
Transportation - Family members often provide transportation and are able to run errands for a disabled member. Singles still have the same errands, but no one to run them.
Advocacy - Family members who are healthy and not compromised can be valuable resources for wading through the mounds of paperwork related to disability, financial affairs, and social services.
Housing -Safe housing is the number one challenge for people with MCS. Family units provide the financial backing to enable renting or purchasing stand alone units which can be renovated to the needs of the MCS member. Singles face the unique challenge of lacking the financial capability to afford these expensive modifications and often live in toxic community settings such as an apartment complex.
Dating - Despite chronic illness, singles with MCS may still want to date and socialize.
A support group for singles with MCS is located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mcs-singles and addresses the challenges of living as a single with MCS, examines solutions, provides a place for general discussion, and is a resource for peer support.
Disclaimer: This is not a dating group.
