Support Groups?

[Eddie Ewing]

What are ppl's views on these Support Groups???

I always thought they were kind of Cults but I've now been to a few meetings with a once called AWARE.Basically we sit around a table with coffee and people talk about their problems and then if someone can relate then they will jump in and indetify with that person.I haven't spoke yet but I am goin to this Friday night.

I'm also thinking of joining another group called GROW.It's like AWARE but they deal with lost self esteen and depression.I'm ony giving these a go in hope that I can keep myself sober and it's been working so far.

Even a few of us from the group have set up Saturday night Meditation meeting so that should be good.That helped me a lot in Rehab and I can do it since then so I'm hoping that it will be better this time around.

I'm most likely boring you people by now so I'll quit rambling and let people to think about it and let me know via Fedback!!

Thanks,
EDD

[Mike]

Edd ive never actually been to any support groups but i wish you well and i hope you find peace and tranquility in your life.

Good Luck,

Mike

[Eddie Ewing]

Thanks Mike....Yanno...I wouldn't normally go to these but I need to get myself back on track and start looking for other ways to deal with my problems instead of blaming everyone else and then running to a drink.Hopefully this will hep.They really do seem to be a genuine and caring crowd.

[Mike]

As i said Edd, best of luck but remember, at the end of the day the only person who can help you is yourself, and going to support groups is a great start,

Again best wishes

[HoustonCougar]

I think a support group is a great idea..... i mean yangedd... there is no sense to suffer alone and in silence, OK?

[Toby]

When things were not progressing well in my life a little while back, I attended a focus group dealing with issues about confidence. The group was short-term and lasted for six weeks, but it was a valuable experience.

One of the best things about these groups is that you realise that whatever problems or difficulties you are having in your life, is that you are not alone. Listening to other people speaking of their experiences is also good because it takes you out of yourself, gets you interested in others etc.

The best piece of advice I can offer re. a support group is this: participate. Do not be afraid to speak up because you will not get anything out of the experience if you don't engage with it and make the most of it. Also, in the majority of these groups, there is a confidentiality agreement so any information disclosed does not go pass those four walls. It would be a pretty bad group if it didn't!

Wishing you the very best of luck, Yangedd, and remember "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

[Eddie Ewing]

Thanks guys...They do seem really good.I was listening to the all the other night and the friendship there was amazing.A way better then I ever got from anyone else.I'm gonna talk this week and then I'mm gonna contact another group they told me about that runs in the city.A lot of my problems have to do with one huge thing and I want to get started on that too.

[Tatianna]

Good luck. I hope you will find comfort sharing your concerns with others.

[Eddie Ewing]

Thanks...I'm gonna have to do something before I'll end up dead.These past few months have been terrible and I just want to be happy again without the help of Booze, Seroxat or Sleeping pills!!

[KL4ever]

Good luck with everything. I hope all becomes better for you soon. You are in my thouights and prayers. take care.

[SueEllenE]

Support groups to me are just the same as group therapy, and I hate group therapy, . There are certain people that tend to dominate the group and if you have a problem you want to talk about you don't get a chance.

[Droitwich Lloyd]

Well, don't get reliant on these 'support groups', depression is a state of mind, that the suffererer, usually, loves to indulge.
A steady job, plenty of exercise, good social life, and a regular s**g should sort you out.
Then you won't have time to feel sorry for yourself.

[miss laura]

Droitwich....depression is not necessarily a person feeling sorry for themselves or indulging a state of self-pity. It is a medical condition that can have varying causes....genetic factors, biological causes, psychological causes, etc.

[Droitwich Lloyd]

Hi Laura, yes, but in today's society, it seems we almost encourage people to pity their lot. And you usually find, the people who winge and attention seek, are perfectly healthy, just far too much time on their hands.

[Toby]

Hi Laura, yes, but in today's society, it seems we almost encourage people to pity their lot. And you usually find, the people who winge and attention seek, are perfectly healthy, just far too much time on their hands.

That's not a very sympathetic or helpful attitude. The point about therapy - whether it be support groups or individual sessions with a counsellor - is the acknowledgement that yes, ultimately you have to help yourself but it is also about equipping yourself with the tools you need to restore your wellbeing and lost confidence. It takes time and patience, not accusations of malingering.

[Droitwich Lloyd]

We are born with all the tools we need to tackle this great life.
I have never lost my confidence, or the ultimate faith I have in myself.
Where I come from, you weren't allowed the luxury of melancholia, you just got on with surviving, and whilst ever we are all living, loving and laughing, I really don't see the need for indulgant sympathies.

[Toby]

We are born with all the tools we need to tackle this great life.
I have never lost my confidence, or the ultimate faith I have in myself.
Where I come from, you weren't allowed the luxury of melancholia, you just got on with surviving, and whilst ever we are all living, loving and laughing, I really don't see the need for indulgant sympathies.

So, "I'm alright, Jack"?

Some people aren't born with the opportunity to exercise those tools, and some need a little help to get on the right track.

I suppose you'd tell someone with a complex bipolar disorder/struggling to get over drug/alcohol addiction/victim of domestic violence or other problems and difficulties to "pull themselves together and get on with it", would you?

How unenlightened.

[Droitwich Lloyd]

Ofcourse there are vunerable people in society, many of which I have helped, and would help, but the thing with people with low self-esteem ect, is not to indulge them futher into victimhood. Self pity will soon make a home in a person, given the chance, and feed of that person's being, untill there is nothing left but self pity.
Work hard, play hard, treat people with respect, and all this nonsense about support groups, becomes superfluous.

[Toby]

Work hard, play hard, treat people with respect, and all this nonsense about support groups, becomes superfluous.

Well, that's the whole psychiatric profession taken care of then. Perhaps they should put you in charge of the N.H.S.?

[Droitwich Lloyd]

They could do worse, i'd have them on their feet, working, and earning their keep in no time.
There's far too much self pity around these days, mostly, i've found, in young men.