Self-help Groups for Non-addicts

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Self-help groups do not exist simply for addicts. They have proved of enormous help to many others and deal with a wide range of problems or experiences. For example, parents whose children have been the victims of cot death often find great comfort from being with people who have been in the same terrible situation. They realize that they are not alone and that they are in no way to blame for the tragedy, although some of them will have been torturing themselves with this thought.

Another well-known self-help group is Al-Anon, which provides help and understanding for the members of the family of someone who is suffering from alcohol abuse. This is a particularly useful group since alcohol destroys not only individuals but whole families, coming, as it often does, accompanied by violence, poverty and loss of self-esteem. Often family members feel, usually quite wrongly, a sense of blame and a sense of failure if they have been unable to get the alcoholic to stop drinking.

Other self-help groups include those formed by people who have been raped, suffered sexual abuse, people who are suffering from Aids or who are HIV-positive, people who are part of the adoption triangle and people who suffer from depression. Obviously, the nature of the groups will vary, but they have in common the fact that the members all know what other members are going through, and they know exactly what to do to help.

Being part of a group takes away the terrible sense of isolation that is often felt by people who are suffering in some way. 'Why me?' they often ask, and it is something of a comfort that God or fate has not selected them alone to undergo tragedy or disorder.

We have seen how self-help groups for people fighting an addiction can help the members lose their sense of alienation and discover more about themselves while helping them to fight the addiction. Whatever traumatic experience members of other groups are recovering from, it will have left its mark.

The help and support that they receive from fellow group members will enable them to recover enough from the trauma to be able to stop and think, and to use the learning experience in a positive way so that it may well in some way enrich their lives. The whole experience will certainly tell them a good deal about themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, and will be a major stage in any journey of self-discovery.