The Disturbing Trend of Caregiver Abuse in the MS Community 5 This is disturbing and, unfortunately, not surprising. More than 50% of people with advanced multiple sclerosis reported they’ve been mistreated by a family member or friend who cares for them, according to the results of a survey published last September by researchers at the University of California, Riverside. Much of that mistreatment (44.2%) was described as psychological, often involving being insulted or sworn at in anger. This doesn’t surprise me, because I often read about such situations on social media, in which the person with MS is complaining about a spouse or a parent.