# How did you work up the courage to go?



## Hani (Jul 30, 2010)

The idea of attending a support group to talk about this seems particularly strange to me. And more than a little terrifying. How the heck does one work up the courage to attend a group like this when saying hello to a neighbor is paramount to taking a leap off a skyscraper?


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## toughcookie (Jul 21, 2010)

I think what helps is just knowing that everyone else at the group is in the same boat and will not put unnecessary pressure on you to talk or anything. They will understand you. Im guessing that most newbies to support groups just observe and that is totally acceptable at these groups. I haven't attended one yet but that will be how I motivate myself to go if my anxiety skyrockets 

Oh, and maybe if you know another board member who goes to the group you can message them and start some kind of dialogue so that when you go to the group you can feel like at least one person is familiar.


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## Onkaparinga (Aug 1, 2010)

I was at the stage where I was just looking for anything that would help as too much time had gone by already. Basically it came down to having nothing better to do, I've attended almost every session and have attended the most out of everyone there.

That said, I had bad sleeping hours and didn't attend a 10am support group because of this, it was only when one started at 6pm (initially once a month then later once a fortnight) that I attended.

It has become easier to the point where I am not nervous the whole time now with my attention wandering off (due to better sleeping hours), I'm not the best orator but I can at least talk about stuff now without feeling too much adrenalin. I hope you log back in to read this. Meditation also helps me with this kind of situation, to get me to the point where I feel that everything's going to be OK. I now do this in the car 10-15 minutes before walking in.


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