support groups essays

support groups essays Participants who attended a support group were surveyed on why they were attending support group, what their participation level is, and what their expectation from the support group is. There were many different trends that were found among the three different groups, Alcoholic Anonymous, disabled workers, and heterosexuals with the Aides Virus. Some of the responses were similar, and others were attending the meetings for different reasons. The experience of illness is a profoundly social one. Suffering elicits intense emotions and hence the desire to talk to others. Through interpersonal exchanges, patients develop an understanding of their illness: They may talk to friends, relatives and professionals about what their diagnosis and treatment may entail. Over the course of their particular illness, relationships are strained or broken, and new ones become valuable, such as those with doctors, nurses, or physical therapists. For some, the condition itself constitutes a dangerous secret that erects a barrier between themselves and their support network. Thus, patients experiences of illness both influence, and are influenced by, the social fabric that surrounds them. There are many different reasons people choose to attend support groups. It may be they are reaching our for comfort they cannot find other places, or because they feel the network of friends they have met through the support groups is the only people who truly understand what they are going through, or it may be because they have been ordered to do so by some outside authority. Whatever the reasons may be, the need and outcome of people who attend support groups is a necessity for those searching for support and guidance. Many years ago Leiverman, Yalom, and Miles (1973) developed an empirical models to study encounter-group leader behavior. An analysis of leader behaviors and participant outcomes revealed a substantial and statistically signifi...