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Support group -.-
9 years ago
So I'm not allowed to give specifics about anyone or what anyone has said.. Bear that in mind so this is more or less a journal without example and for that I'm sorry...
But I just can't, for the life of me, figure out what a support group is supposed to do to help someone. I quit drinking on my own, I quit smoking on my own-........Let me rephrase, I quit both of these horrible habits with the help of a select few friends and their patience. I didn't need a group of people sitting around me in a circle asking my name and having to say something about myself. But my doctor has requested I attend this support group since low and behold it's free, and since ultimately he's the one writing the piece of paper for my Spiro and Estradiol...I can't exactly say 'no'.
It's the most depressing, smothering environment I think I've ever willingly put myself in. I keep wondering if maybe there's something I'm missing but everyone starts to complain and then the therapist who's running it offers next to no advice or guidance, so the floor is left to offer suggestions and ways out which- either the people don't want to hear a solution and would rather bemoan their problems expecting a group wide 'poor you' response, or the solution is- in my unprofessional opinion- extreme and very much unhelpful unless the goal is to piss off as many people as you can and forcing acceptance by 'my way or the highway' with no room for compromise or mature discourse.
Or maybe there's something I'm missing entirely, I don't know. But after 2 sessions, both feeling much the same, I don't know what anyone gets out of this sort of environment. It's left me disheartened, and ultimately a hell of a lot more depressed than before I started attending. Doc appointment Monday so I'll see just how much he things I need this support group thing. 
Unfortunately, many people aren't willing to think about themselves in depth. I think there is something about society now a day where people just learn to not think critically about themselves, about how they feel or their mistakes. We are told to keep moving, and in part, maybe it is the world we live in today, where if we stop moving, we will end up being left behind now more than ever. And when people have things they don't want to think about or face, it makes it that much more... frustrating to deal with them.
That is the point of a support group, to give you the support to open up and face those things that are inside of yourself. So that you can feel like you have that support so that as you dig deeper and deeper, to make it okay. And also so that other people can see, that as someone digs deeper, it gives other people insight to try to seek within themselves. To hear it coming from someone else other than a therapist, that could be a powerful tool.
I would recommend that might be a good thing to talk with your therapist about.
Regardless, add me on Skype. I'll be your support group -hugs-