Support Groups
I'm addressing this because over the years I've felt and experienced a growing concern for why this seems to be an issue.
First of all, let me say that I have a life long condition called Epilepsy. My kind of epilepsy involves grand mal and petite mal seizures, but mostly grand mal - the jerking around, losing consciousness kind. My family has a history of diabetes, parkinsons and breast cancer. Recently, my step-mother and my sister contracted breast cancer. Miraculously, it's looking like my step-mother has won her battle. Unfortunately, my sister has not been so lucky. From the information I have, we know that it is nearing stage three, and the Doctors would like to go in and get it.
Over the years, all three of us have been approached by strangers, oversympathizing and undersympathizing about our condition. Invitations for support groups pour in. But none of us has joined. To us, support groups seem to trivialize the matter or make it worse. Who wants to talk about an illness all day? Separate ourselves from the world? We're the same people. We aren't "The woman who has breast cancer" or "The woman who has those seizure things". We are just women, living our daily lives.
I wonder, with the growing numbers of illnesses out there, why so many others are dissatisfied with support groups? It seems to me that we are creating our own support networks of close family and friends. We're keeping strangers out. And perhaps that's the way it should stay.