Support Groups: Finding the Help You Need Online

We’ve all had things happen in our lives that weren’t planned for.  Sometimes the unexpected is good, but sometimes it’s a nightmare.  When you find yourself in a situation you weren’t prepared for, it can become overwhelming.  You want to talk to someone, but it seems like your friends and family just don’t understand.

What’s worse is when it’s a problem they can’t see on the surface – maybe it’s psychological, like depression or social anxiety; you need herniated disc treatment or treatment for pain from nerve damage because of an accident, or maybe you have a condition like Endometriosis or Crohn’s disease that they just don’t know much about.  Maybe you’re afraid they think you’re over-dramatic because they can’t see what you’re experiencing, or it can feel like they just don’t care, and that can hurt more than the problem itself.

Luckily, there’s always someone out there who understands.  These days, many people have taken their desire to connect with peers who can relate online.  There’s no longer as much of a need to track down a support group and meet up with them in a place that may be inconvenient for you to travel to at a time that may not fit your schedule.   Now, help can be found online, right at your fingertips, without leaving your home and without having to deal with any inhibitions about discussing your problems face-to-face.  You can find the support you need while lounging on your own couch.

Online support groups aren’t as difficult to find as you may think either.  There are many sites that provide directories of a long list of support groups for problems ranging from parenting difficulties to mental illness, to cancer, to diabetes and many more problems.  There are even social media networks dedicated to helping anyone who is a patient to find other people who are going through the same things as you, or who can just understand the difficulties of going through something.

If you’re looking to find help online, you may want to start by browsing some of these more general sites or join one of the social networks that cover many different problems.  However, for many more common issues, you may be able to find communities tailor-fit to your needs.  If you’re recovering from addiction, there are many sites tailored for you.  If you’re undergoing herniated disc treatment or have other spine problems, there are sites like spine-health that have online forums to discuss these issues.  If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, there are many sites for cancer patients, as well as some for specific types of cancer.

Whether you want to talk to people who are just going through something too or find someone who has exactly the same problems you’re facing, you can find them online.  No matter what you’re going through, there’s no need to go through it alone.