Weekly Inspiration: Find Your People

I have often written here on the blog about the importance of connecting with others like yourself, dealing with the same issues. Besides my own blog posts, I also wrote an article for the ProHealth website called Birds of a Feather: The Joys of Community, about the benefits of connecting and how to find others, even if you can't leave your house (that article also chronicles the start and growth of my own local group).

In addition to the tips I included in that article on finding others, I wanted to tell you about another resource. #MEAction is a quickly-growing patient advocacy group that was started as a result of Jen Brea's wonderful documentary Unrest. The #MEAction staff has been working hard to bring people together from all over the world, and one of their efforts is this list of Facebook groups for ME/CFS. There are over 100 groups listed there now and the list keeps growing! These groups offer a wide range of options to connect with others - some are regional, offering you the chance to not only interact online but to maybe get to know people locally, too, and some are focused on a specific audience, like Pregnancy and Parenting, Military and Veteran's Families, and Caregiver's Support Group. There are over 100 to choose from, so browse through the list and join the groups that are right for you.

This is a great way to get to know other patients and to relieve that loneliness and isolation that are so common in chronic illnesses, especially ours which leaves so many bedridden or homebound.

Join some groups today and find your people!