I go to a support group, because I like the people there,. I have recovered well and hope to encourage others. Why do you go ,or why do you think you would go?
I do what is offered or suggested for my recovery. I’ve been to various ones in my life. I go because psychiatrists and therapists and my family think they will help. I’m not sure if they help but I look at support groups just like I look at the act of praying suggested by AA. I don’t believe entirely in prayer or support groups but I think the discipline of getting up and out of the house to go to a commitment is in itself very helpful and good for you.
So in that sense they help. Also there’s always that chance you can meet a friend which actually happened to me.
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I wouldn’t. I find the whole premise of “support groups” patronizing and counterproductive because they serve as a constant reminder of your own illness. Plus, I don’t need "support,"I need solutions.
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I think the main reason is for people that don’t get out and don’t have much support else were. To find someone that will listen to them. Maybe get some advice or encouragement find a friend that can relate. I originally started going just to get in the habit of talking about my illness . The group I go to is a Christian group so it’s a bit of Christian fellowship as well. I definitely have recovered to the point I don’t be need a support group, therapy ect. But there are people that go to these groups that have no idea that recovery is even possible. Not for everyone could even make some worse but o think it has it’s place for some.
I think that human connections and relationships are the best therapy. I think support groups can be really helpful in that regard. Humans are social beings, and healing often takes place in the context of people supporting each other.
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I wouldn’t go to any, in the past when I first got Dx’d, I was more intrested in finding out everything about this illness, then it kind of hit a plateau, and now it all seems like the same ol stuff, like a broken record.
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I went to support groups of many kinds for many, many years. And they have done their jobs. I am doing well now. I don’t feel that I need them anymore. I went to individual therapists too. They also have done their jobs.
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I tried to go to one but after seeing a session I couldn’t do it. It was more informal, but there were 10 people there with just two talking to each other and the rest eavesdropping and sitting away from each other.
There was no one my age there either, and I felt very uncomfortable talking to these people. I ended up leaving pretty quickly and never returned.
I agree with @InnerCircle’s view. It just didn’t seem like a solution.
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I went to a support group while temporarily under the rehab and recovery team . It was only a very small group and not much interaction. The best that could be said is it got me out of the flat for a couple of hours.
I also went to a peer lead group which was again very small.Often it was the peer leader, a bloke with mild learning disability and myself. The peer leader used to go on about his delusions and the other person would hardly string two words together.
I stopped going when for several weeks it was myself and the bloke with the learning disability as it was an hour sitting in virtual silence.
Maybe not the same thing but I enjoyed going to a drop in until my mental health trust forced the charity running them to shut them down.
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They have never mentioned one at the clinic I go to now, I might try one if they did just to find some friends of the same mindset
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