If you feel you are alone with your condition, then contact with other sufferers can be helpful. It can make you feel more positive.

But contact with other sufferers is not always a good thing. You might contact sufferers who seem to have the same symptoms, but the causes of their symptoms might be very different. You cannot assume that other sufferers are exactly like you.

For example, you might get in touch with sufferers who have a long-term condition, while your condition is short-term and curable. This might make you depressed. It might even make you give up hope and avoid treatment.

One way to protect yourself is to make a note of your mood before and after you have contact with other sufferers. You can ask people close to you to help you with this. If you become more negative about your condition in the days after you have contact with other sufferers, or experience depression, then it might be better for you to avoid that contact in future. Instead, you could try a different self-help group, or try a completely different way to help yourself.

See also: Practical advice