The advent of the internet has made it easier for people to connect with one another from all over the world. This is especially helpful in the pain management community. Many people may not know anyone else in their immediate circle dealing with a specific type of chronic pain condition, but they can connect with hundreds or thousands of individuals who are going through the same issue they are dealing with when they find a support group dedicated to that condition.

At the same time, support groups aren’t a perfect solution for your chronic pain issue either, and they can actually make it harder to overcome your pain if you’re not careful. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at some of the benefits and drawbacks of online support groups for chronic pain.

Benefits Of Online Pain Support Groups

We’ve recommended online support groups to patients in the past, and they have the potential to be a perfect complement to your comprehensive treatment plan. For starters, there is a huge psychological weight that can be lifted off your shoulders when you know that you’re not going through your issue alone. There are so many others out there dealing with similar issues, and you can share ideas and stories with one another to feel less isolated by your chronic pain condition.

In fact, in a study about chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, the most frequently mentioned benefit of an online support group was illness legitimization (67.8%). Two other benefits that were frequently mentioned were finding out new information (66.4%) and feeling understood by others (62.2%). Clearly sharing ideas and connecting with others was helpful for those dealing with an isolating condition.

Drawbacks For Online Support Groups

The same study also looked at some potential drawbacks associated with these pain groups, and they found some interesting results. Most notably, active members of the pain care group reported greater symptom severity and less illness improvement than inactive members or dropouts. Now, there’s many possible reasons for this result. Inactive individuals or dropouts may not lean on the group as much because their pain wasn’t as severe, so they may be more likely to find a solution that leads them to no longer need the group.

However, there’s also the hypothesis that over-dependence and heavy involvement in an online support group can negatively affect how you approach your pain condition. One of the most frequently reported reasons for dropping out of the group was too much negative talk or complaining (33.3%). If all you read about your condition is how horrible it is, how doctors are working against you and how there’s no hope for the future, those thoughts can make it harder for you to find the right treatment plan. You may be more likely to avoid the solutions you need simply because of misinformation and pain catastrophizing that can take place in these groups.

A number of these groups can connect you with wonderful people who truly want to help you find a solution to your pain, but like any online group, they can also be full of people who are angry at the world and use the group to spread their misery to others. Whether intentional or not, it’s important that you don’t allow yourself to focus on these negative comments and know that it will do nothing to actually help you overcome your condition.

We’d be happy to point you in the direction of some in-person or online groups where you can connect with others in the midst of their own personal pain battle. You don’t have to go through it alone, and you can also fight your battle with a pain management specialist by your side. For help with your pain condition, or for answers to your questions, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today.