Informal face to face support groups?

[LMG61]

hi everyone,

i'm very new here (2nd post) and was wondering about informal support groups. i work afternoon shift and live in a rural area and find it difficult to find groups for support or hobbies that i can join because of my work hours.

loneliness and isolation seem to be very common themes in the forum and i was wondering if there is anything like this here already, or if it is a possibility to get some informal groups happening in forumites local areas. i was thinking along the lines of a coffee at maccas, or a trip to the movies, a walk and talk around the local area?

i find it difficult to leave the house without a reason, and apart from work, have no real social activities and no family within a 90min drive. many of us have limited finances which also restricts our choices as to social meetups.

just thinking out aloud..........and putting it to the forum.

maree

[Chris_B]

Hi LMG61 (Maree), welcome to the forums.

This is an anonymous space for online peer support only, so we can't facilitate setting up offline groups through here. 44% of our members come from regional or rural areas, though, so you're not alone though.

If you're looking for people in your local area specifically, you might want to try having a look on Facebook to see if there are any meet-up groups already.

[LMG61]

Hi chris and thanks for the reply.

Chris B said:

44% of our members come from regional or rural areas, though, so you're not alone though.

maybe not virtually alone, but suffering from the absence of being able to form intimate relationships with 'real' people. i understand the anonymous nature of the group, and while it helps a lot of people here to be anonymous, my need, and probably a lot of others is that we struggle with meeting people face to face for lots of reasons.

I haven't been able to find anything in my local area, either formal or informal, through internet searches that allows me to attend because of my work hours, so just thought i'd post and see what could be available.

cheers

maree

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Maree

Thanks for posting! I love the idea of support groups and think they are hugely beneficial.

I think it's hard though to say 'what's available'. A lot of support groups purposely go under the radar so that they don't gather too many members, and also so the member facilitator can work out who is best for the support group. A lot of them too are also 'in the know' and not advertised online. For this reason, I think it might be a good idea to approach your local mental health facilities and see if they are aware of any - community health, medical clinics or specialised mental health facilities (like Mind or Mifsa).

Here are some general links - but I'm not sure if these will be helpful to you as I'm not sure of your state/area.

http://www.meetup.com/The-Panic-Room-SA-Anxiety-Support-Group/

https://www.mindaustralia.org.au/need-help/mind-services-in-victoria/mind-victoria/group-support-services.html

https://www.mifsa.org.au/index.php/our-services/programs/support-groups

http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/public/gettinghelp/othersupportgroups.cfm ** this one is a great link

http://www.mentalhealth.wa.gov.au/getting_help/cc_support.aspx

I hope this helps some. Of course, Facebook is also a great way to go. I have set up a few support groups on Facebook and they can be very helpful; the hardest part is just getting started.