In a support group, members provide each other with various types of nonprofessional, nonmaterial help for a particular shared burdensome characteristic. The help may take the form of providing relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also provide ancillary support, such as serving as a public relations voice or engaging in advocacy.

Maintaining contact

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Support groups maintain interpersonal contact among their members in a variety of ways. Most groups have traditionally met in person in group sizes that allowed conversational interaction. Support groups also maintain contact through printed newsletters, telephone chains, internet forums, and mailing lists. Some support groups are exclusively Online_support_groups.

Membership in some support groups is formally controlled, with admission requirements and membership fees. Other groups are "open" and allow anyone to drop in at an advertised meeting, for example, or to participate in an online forum.

More on [ Support group ]

National Institutes of Health (NIH) News Releases

NIH Scientists Identify Link Between Brain Systems Implicated in Schizophrenia
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:30:00 -0400
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have deciphered the complex relationship between three distinct brain circuits implicated in schizophrenia. The researchers determined that one brain circuit acts through an intermediary brain circuit. The intermediary circuit acts like a volume control knob, turning up the electrical activity of still another brain circuit, or turning it down. The finding suggests that schizophrenia could result from a malfunction anywhere in the link between these three brain circuits.
NIH Launches New Web Site for Parents on Medical Research Studies for Children
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:30:00 -0400
A new Web site from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), "Children and Clinical Studies" (www.ChildrenAndClinicalStudies.nhlbi.nih.gov), offers parents and health care providers an insider's guide to children's medical research.
Scientists Identify Gene Variant Involved in Isolated Cleft Lip
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:30:00 -0400
About 20 percent of isolated cleft lip, one of the world’s most common birth defects, may be due to a one-letter difference in the DNA sequence of a gene involved in facial development, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health report.

CNN.com - Health

Ancient sport helps breast cancer survivors
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:23:15 -0400
Dragon boat racing dates back to ancient China, but some modern-day participants are breast cancer survivors who are using the sport to paddle their way back to physical and emotional health.
AIDS, cancer scientists scoop medicine Nobel
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:43:19 -0400
Two Frenchmen and a German won the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine for their discoveries of viruses that cause HIV and cervical cancer, the organization's Web site said Monday.

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