Patients Reach Out To Each Other For Support

Posting Date: 02/28/2000

I?m not surprised to learn that self-help support groups are sprouting up - both on and off-line - particularly for diseases viewed as embarrassing or stigmatizing.

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Support groups are particularly popular for people facing AIDS, breast cancer, alcoholism and anorexia. You might think those would be natural topics for online support, but surprisingly, those are the groups that seek out face-to-face support situations. It appears that the seriousness of their illness, and its social stigmatization, have made people with these conditions feel isolated from their normal social setting, and forced them to find others in similar situations.

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Researchers say when it comes to changing health behaviors, more of you today are seeking self-help resources than all other forms of programs designed by professional psychologists.

An interesting side note is that participation in face-to-face self-help groups varies considerably in the four cities studied. In Dallas, there are only 140 support groups per million people, compared to Chicago, where 755 groups per million people are active.

The reasons for geographical differences aren?t known, but some factors may include local mental health appropriations levels, foundation support, population density or historical or cultural orientations. I think cultural differences might be a big influence on how and why people seek out others for help with a problem.

On the Internet, the most active health support groups were ones dealing with chronic fatigue syndrome, which shows how concerned many people are with this relatively new diagnostic category. Another strong support group is made up of multiple sclerosis sufferers. It makes sense that people with more rare conditions that affect their mobility would seek out online support groups.