Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
FactorsUnderlyingParticipants’GainsinOnlineSupportGroups
23
interactinginthegroupactivatesseveraldynamicfactorstoaffectaparticipant’s
feelings,justbelongingtoagroupofpeoplewhosharesimilardifficultiesgenerates
other,reassuringfeelingsandthoughts.Experiencinguniversalitythusremoves
feelingsofbeingdifferent,ostracized,andabnormal,ofbeinglonelyandisolat-
ed,andofhavingtobehiddenandtoconcealidentityandlabels.Manysupport
groupsactuallyadvancefeelingsofbelongingandfosterasenseofbeingamem-
berofaspecial,homogeneouscommunitynotjusttoinduceprideorself-esteem
butforthepersonalacceptanceofthemembers’universalproblem.
AcceptingSocialRecognition
Manypeoplesufferingemotionaldistressfeelnotonlydepressedandanxious
butalsoworthlessandforgotten.Havingtheexperienceofothersreferringto
themandlisteningtothemsensitivelyandasanindividualandrespondingto
them,usingtheirnames,andshowingappreciationoftheirpresenceandpartici-
pationisempowering(Shaw,McTavish,Hawkins,Gustafson,&Pingree,2000).
Moreover,ifparticipantshelpothers,contributetothegroup,orprovideper-
sonalinputs,theygainrecognitioninawaytheyusuallydonotexperiencein
theirofflineenvironment.Thevirtualsupportcommunitythusbecomesavery
realandpowerfulentityinthemindofapersonindistress;itfrequentlybecomes
evenmoreinfluentialthanhisorherofflinecommunity.
DevelopingInterpersonalRelationships
Associalbeings,peopleusuallyneedthecompanyofothers,interpersonal
interactions,andexchangesofthoughts,feelings,andbehavioralgestures.Fre-
quently,manypeopleindistressactuallycontributetotheirownfeelingsoflone-
linessandisolationbydrawingawayfromothers.Thissocialdepartingisquite
typicalinadepressivestaterelatedtoanyoneofanumberofnumeroushealth
andmentalhealthconditions;socialwithdrawalactuallyworsenspeople’semo-
tionalstate,perhapswithouttheirawarenessorchoice.Joininganonlinesupport
groupenablespeopleinsuchsituationstomaintaintheirphysicalsocialwith-
drawalbutalsotoretainsocialinteractions.Thisuniqueexperienceof“enjoying
bothworlds”or“runningwiththehareanddancingwiththehounds”ismade
possiblebyexperiencingtheonlineandofflineparallelenvironments.
Onlinerelationshipsprovidestrongemotionalexperiences(Barak,2007a)
and,insomecircumstances,mayreplaceofflinesocialoccurrences,atleastin
satisfyingpsychologicalneeds.Clearly,thevirtualexperienceshouldnotbecon-
sideredareplacementforreal,physical,face-to-face,interpersonalrelationships.
