Support groups can improve healing from serious illness

If you receive a difficult diagnosis, are you going to bury your
head in the sand and hope it goes away – or are you going to try to fix
it? My guess is the majority of us will want to rush into action to
make it go away. But before you take a leap of faith into the medical
unknown, my advice is to scout out the territory by talking to other
people who are ahead of you on the same path.

Start by finding people to whom you can relate. A good way to do
that is by joining support groups. You can find them online or search
for meetings in your hometown or community. Support groups give you the
chance to meet other people who have a head-start on the learning curve
about your condition, and they really do understand what you are
feeling.

Of course, no two people have the exact same experience – even if
they have the same disease – so don’t try to force your symptoms or
treatments to match those of someone else. However, you should take
advantage of their experiences, support, and resources. While you need
to make your own decisions based on your own health and condition, the
experiences of others can help you understand your options and help you
get the real story about living with the disease. You can find support
groups online at many websites dedicated to specific conditions. You can
also find a variety of groups on informational sites like empowHER.com. Your healthcare provider may also be able to suggest local groups or websites related to your condition.

More than just giving you someone to whom you can talk, connecting
with others can also give you access to a broader resource pool, which
can help you make better decisions. My friend and fellow advocate Pat
is a perfect example. Pat was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia,
and she believes her connections online actually helped save her life.

“I was not able to see an expert in my condition in my community, but
I was able to quickly build a network of fellow patients worldwide who
helped guide me and fill in the gaps," Pat told me. "When I ran into
clinical concerns, I was able to use an online ‘Ask the Expert’ service,
which validated that a treatment course being suggested locally was
ill-advised. It boiled down to getting the right information to manage
my own care plan and resulted in achieving the best possible response to
treatment in an optimal time frame. Had I just gone along with what
local doctors were telling me to do I doubt that I would be alive, and I
definitely would be in much poorer health.”

Remember that you are not alone. There are other people in the world
who have what you have. I believe it is much easier to grasp the
details of any condition when you can share information with someone in
the same situation. Research also shows that people tend to heal better
when they are in a group rather than when they try to go it alone. So
don’t think you have to be strong and go through your illness or
treatment solo. Give yourself the best possible chance at a full
recovery by taking advantage of every type of healing, including the
support and experience of people who have been there before you.

Participating in a support group also means you are passing on your
experiences to the people coming into the group after you. Many people
going through a serious illness find that an important part of the
healing process is giving back to someone else. Support groups can give
you those opportunities.

Helping others is a healthy sign of a positive attitude that is
critical to healing. This is a key thing for me. I believe in my heart
of hearts that helping others gives me a positive charge that improves
my own healing – in both body and spirit. As a health advocate, I want
to share that with you. If you have a difficult diagnosis, I encourage
you to be your best health advocate by participating fully in your own
healing and recovery, including sharing the benefits of your experience
with others.

Michelle
King Robson (pronounced robe-son) is one of the nation's leading
women's health and wellness advocates. She is the Founder, Chairperson
and CEO ofEmpowHER,
one of the fastest-growing and largest social health companies
dedicated exclusively to women's health and wellness. In 2011 EmpowHER
reached more than 60 million women onsite and through syndication
expects to reach more than 250 million in 2012.

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