Hello Dazzle! Thanks for coming and hanging out with me today, I’m glad that you are here. Today I want to talk about joining a support group and why I think that you should. The internet is a large place with a vast number of people visiting it every day. There are groups on every social media platform that offer us ways to connect with others that are struggling in the same fashion that we are.
Doesn’t matter what you’re going through, you’re not the only one. That’s the interesting thing about being human. We are all unique and different. Human diversity is amazingly vast. Yet, the human experience has remained so unchanged and so universal that Shakespeare’s works still resonate with us today. The benefit of this is that there is always someone else that is experiencing what ever is that you’re experiencing right now.
When we are struggling with something it can feel really isolating because it can be so hard to talk about the experience in a meaningful way with those who have not shared in that struggle. This is the major benefit of joining a support group. It gives you a place to connect with other people that share the same kinds of struggles as you. This creates a space where you can talk about your experience and feel understood rather then feeling isolated and alone.
The other major advantage to joining a support group is that it will create more support for you. This means that those people in your life like your partner and friends and family will not always be the people that you go to for the support. The more people we have in our life to support us, the more likely our emotional needs will be met. A single person can never meet all of our emotional needs. They can’t put us before themselves and this means that there are going to be times that even the best people are not going to be available to support us. This is not a failing of the relationship, but the nature of life.
There are many types of support groups. There are ones that are online and there are ones that are held in person. There are advantages to both kinds. The ones online have the benefit of being available 24 hours a day and there are many more of them available to you. The online groups will often have more people in them as well since they generally have members from all over the world. The ones that are held in person have the benefit of the in person human connection that cannot be achieved online. These kinds of groups also have the potential of generating friendships that can be taken into other areas of our lives.
There is also the possibility of creating your own support group. If you feel that there isn’t a support group in your area or one online that fits your needs, you can always create that group. It is very likely that there are other people who share those needs. There is a good amount of work that goes into creating and maintaining a support group, but it might be the option that works best for you.
How do you know the group is right for you? From the outside, there is no great way to tell. Reading the group’s description and meeting times is a good place to start. If those things seem like a good fit, then join the group and see how it feels. If the group doesn’t feel right after you’ve spent some time there, then there is nothing wrong with moving on and trying a different group. Sometimes it takes several tries before you find the group that you need. Sometimes it works best when you are in several support groups. It is a trial and error process.
I personally am in numerous support groups that focus on the various diagnoses that I have. This has given me lots of people to talk to when things are going on. I have even just started my own support group on Face Book as part of the Zebra Pig project. You’re welcome to check that out and see if this group might be the right fit for you:
Well, that’s about it for my rambling today. Thanks for coming and spending some time with me. If you like what you read, click on that like button. It really does help! Until we talk again, you take care of yourselves!
Zebra Pig 