Self-help groups

Chapter 71 Self-help groups


No doctor or health professional can afford to ignore the rise of the self-help movement in the management of illness, disability and social problems. Self-help ranges from the large national organizations, to small, unique, local groups. All have arisen from people wanting to take more control of their lives and responsibility for the management of their illness/disability. Probably the largest and most famous self-help organization is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) (see pp. 82–83) with its 12-step programme (Box 1). This is a model followed by others, e.g. Gamblers Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous. The concepts behind the 12-step programme have been incorporated into some professionally run services.



Box 1 Twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous



1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. We admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practise these principles in all our affairs.


Types of self-help groups


Self-help groups divide into two broad categories – those whose aim is to help members and those with a primarily campaigning role, aiming to change public attitudes and policy, although many include both aims.


In the health field, self-help groups exist for practically every condition, whether defined as illness or some ‘deviation from the norm’. There are groups for people with lifelong conditions (e.g. Association of Cystic Fibrosis Adults), chronic medical conditions (e.g. Ileostomy Association), mental health problems (e.g. MIND), and people who define themselves as survivors, whether of the system (e.g. Survivors Speak Out) or of abuse (e.g. Incest Survivors Group). Groups exist for relatives (e.g. National Schizophrenia Fellowship, renamed Rethink in 2002). Other groups exist for those experiencing traumatic life events, including bereavement (e.g. Compassionate Friends).



Functions of self-help groups



Support


The emotional support, acceptance and understanding that come from others in a similar position cannot be overestimated and the importance of social support has been discussed elsewhere (see pp. 136–137). For particularly stigmatized or disadvantaged groups their main source of social contact and friendship may come through such groups. However some people may feel more stigmatized by being expected to socialize with such people, or see it as a sign of weakness. Members of the British Council of Organizations of Disabled People (BCODP), which organizes the Rights not Charity demonstrations, are more likely to view themselves as political than those organizations which do not join.



Role models


Those who have overcome or learned to live with the problem provide a powerful model for others in the same position and can offer a hopeful and optimistic view of the future.

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Jun 10, 2016 | Posted by in PSYCHOLOGY | Comments Off on Self-help groups

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