Look Ok... Feel Crap?

Group support

A lot of people also find it helpful to go along to self-help groups to talk to other people who have depression or anxiety. Self-help groups bring people together who have experience of depression to share their knowledge and offer support. Because it gives you a chance to meet people in similar situations they can be a good way to learn positive ways of coping with depression and can help you feel less alone.

Self-help groups are usually run by volunteers and will work on two important principles: confidentiality and respect. It can be a bit daunting to go along to your first group, but there’s no pressure to talk at the start if you don’t want to. Just sit in and listen. All groups should have a strict confidentiality agreement in place, so nothing you say will be shared with people outside the group. Groups have been set up as a way of offering mutual support, so most will be based on ideas of respecting each other’s views and experiences.

Finding a group

In Scotland, Depression Alliance Scotland runs groups in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Inverness. Visit the Depression Alliance Scotland website for details of groups in your area. There are also short Living Life to the Full courses in Edinburgh and the Highlands.

There are many other organisations who also run self-help groups in Scotland. Email us at ask@lookokfeelcrap.org for more information about groups in your area. If you know of any self-help support groups in your area then let us know, so that we can tell other people about it.

 

 

Stu“I was a bit nervous when I first turned up at the group and was glad that I was not put under any pressure to speak, unless I wanted to. I found listening to other people’s experiences very helpful and could identify with many of their issues.”

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Copyright: DAS, 2010; Last updated: 13/01/10