Social support in a changing world - the importance of online support groups for people suffering from eating disorders

The role of social support in dealing with a disease is extremely important. People who are in a similar life situation, facing the same problems, may not only be a relevant source of support and useful information, but also help to increase patients’ quality of life. They can also reduce the feeling of otherness and alienation. Moreover, social support facilitates the process of recovery. Since the emergence of new technologies, especially the cyberspace, it can be seen that social life is transferring to the Internet. The number of forums and online support groups is growing rapidly, however, there are still not much data regarding the psychological consequences and benefits of being a member of an online support group. The aim of this presentation is to compare the level of satisfaction with the social support experienced by those who attend traditional self-help groups and those who look for support on the Internet. The research was conducted on a group of 73 women with eating disorders (41 suffering from anorexia nervosa and 32 suffering from bulimia nervosa). The following measurement tools were used in the research: Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS) and an original survey prepared by the author. The analyses showed that 77% of the participants got high results in the Need For Support Scale. Moreover, 2/3 of participants got high results in the Searching For Support Scale, out of whom 75% were searching for support on the Internet.