Since friends, family members, work colleagues, etc. usually have little knowledge of the subject of MCS and they cannot understand the complaints of those affected, MCS patients often suffer from being labeled as hypochondriacs or "psychos". In addition, there is a lack of productivity, which does not allow the patient to freely participate in social activities. This can quickly lead to social isolation. MCS patients then no longer dare to express their complaints. Everyone has to find their own way of dealing with the disease. I tend to be aggressive myself. I'm not affected, but I would explain it to people like this:

"If I only had one leg, I wouldn't have to explain to anyone that I can't run and climb stairs as fast. However, if I am missing the key gene for detoxification, then almost nobody can understand the resulting symptoms, because hardly anyone knows about it. Imagine you drink a bottle of whiskey in one gulp and then sniff petrol or nitro for another 10 minutes. Then you will have an idea of how I feel after just a little exposure in furniture stores, new cars or freshly painted rooms. Anyone who then says, "Don't be so stupid" or "You have to go through it", doesn't understand it because they ignore facts. He wouldn't do it with an obviously amputated leg. Here, society would consider him to be underprivileged if he judged a one-legged person to be non-disabled. So it just depends on your level of knowledge. There was also a time when people thought the earth was flat. But they were able to continue their education and anyone who still thinks the earth is flat is considered stupid. I can't replace the missing genes, but I can try to improve people's perspective on the disease."

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If you don't understand then, you should try to become an American president. Since Trump made the alternative facts socially acceptable, he certainly has a chance.

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It makes sense to get in touch with a self-help group, as those affected experience understanding and realize that they are not isolated. There are also useful tips here. Psychotherapy can help in learning coping strategies. But make sure that the psychotherapist is familiar with the clinical picture. Because here lies a not inconsiderable risk. A psychiatrist who is not familiar with MCS runs the risk of making the misdiagnosis of "masked depression" or "chronic fatigue syndrome". Masked depression refers to a depression that the person affected is not aware of and therefore expresses physical complaints that he only perceives because of the depression. It is also called "somatized or masked depression". A "dangerous diagnosis" that makes me wonder how often it is wrongly made because the psychiatrist is unable to identify the real causes of some diseases. If, as part of such a misdiagnosis, an antidepressant is then prescribed to the MCS patient, the damage will be even greater. Psychotropic drugs with many side effects are not tolerated by MCS patients.