Accountability can be why some people like support groups

Positive role models are a benefit of support groups

Meeting individuals who are going through similar life experiences or navigating similar health journeys can provide inspiration and be a benefit of attending in-person or online support groups.

Support groups offer support, safety, and the relief of common experience

Gathering—virtually or otherwise—with people going through a similar experience or navigating the same disease can make someone feel like they're part of a larger community. Participants can receive and offer support, and potentially learn tips that could improve their quality of life or lead them to other resources.

Setting up a support group could be as simple as informally gathering in your kitchen

Groups may be as varied as an ad-hoc group that gets together to share information and encouragement or a longer-term group with a stated purpose and a facilitator, or perhaps look like anything in between.

Support groups can offer insights into current and potential treatments

Beyond connecting with patients with similar experiences, support groups can also become centers for advocacy and for sharing research advances and medical experiences, including potential side effects from novel therapies or clinical trials.

'Men's groups' may fail if members aren't truly invested in growth

Individuals who are truly dedicated to the mission of personal growth and want to build connections and community are essential for this type of group's success. The groups require an ongoing commitment, and members must be open to feedback, which can be a challenge. The hope in these groups is to build a bond that extends beyond a weekly or biweekly meeting. One such group is The Alliance, which has hundreds of members divided into local chapters.

Support groups are typically free, which makes them widely accessible

The groups are typically run by someone with the same illness or set of experiences and can provide clear, practical knowledge about navigating healthcare resources, bureaucracy, and more. Since they function on trust, however, there are no legal confidentiality prohibiting people from sharing what's discussed. What's more, group leaders may not be uniformly trained or certified.

'Men's groups' seek to offer deeper authenticity and personal growth

These formalized gatherings of men involve meaningful check-ins and sharing of daily experiences with the goal of personal growth. They are typically founded with the intention of bringing together men who want to examine their life and relationships, seek personal growth, and explore their ongoing relationship with masculinity and manhood.

Social support plays a critical role in recovery from addiction

This engaging TEDx talk from addiction researcher Jacki Hillios explores addiction recovery through a transformative lens and Phoenix Multisport—an innovative program helping people rebuild their lives through active lifestyles. By living out its core message that people are not defined by their disease, the program demonstrates the power of social support in recovery.

Group therapy is not the same thing as a support group

Group therapy, facilitated by a licensed therapist, is typically covered by insurance or involves a fee. Support groups are often peer-led and usually come with no cost.

Journaling can improve mental wellbeing and promote positive interactions

Described as having therapy with someone who knows you well, documenting one's thoughts and feelings aids in information processing and can reveal personal issues. Methods include bullet journaling and gratitude, which a 2024 study linked to a longer lifespan.

Some bereavement support groups prohibit dating other members

This in-depth podcast covers many aspects of grieving and support. One aspect it discusses is that people may naturally feel a connection with others who are going through similar experiences and may want to build community that way, including pursuing romantic relationships. Such liaisons may be off-putting to some participants and that's why some groups prohibit dating other support group members.

Meeting someone with common healthcare challenges can be life-changing

The understanding that comes from meeting others who have similar experiences can provide hope that life can get better, the solace of affirmation, and make navigating a new diagnosis or a rare illness, in particular, much easier.

Board games can improve life satisfaction and coping self-efficacy

They provide distraction, foster self-determination, and promote personal transformation. Purposeful engagement with games builds the capacity to face real-life problems.

Private Facebook groups are acting as an entryway to support groups

Many groups are findable via search but only members can see their content. Others are "secret"—meaning an existing member must invite you to become part of it. But they're all free, remote, and potentially accessible 24/7. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Grief cannot be rushed through—it's a process and support groups can help

Finding your way after the death of a spouse can be aided by attending a regular and consistent grief group. The people attending those gatherings are uniquely poised to understand what you may be experiencing.

Helping support others in older age linked to longer life

Analysis of findings from a long-term study of older couples first interviewed in 1987 and then followed for the next five years found that individuals who lend support to friends, neighbors, and relatives live longer. Non-helpers were more than twice as likely to die as helpers during the five-year period. That's even after controlling for factors including age, gender, and physical and mental health.

Offering support to others linked to cognitive and physical health improvements

The Baltimore Experience Corps Trial, which was a large study evaluating the health benefits of volunteering among older adults, concluded that seniors spending about 15 hours weekly offering kids tutoring and mentoring was associated with improvements including better memory and increased mobility and strength.

Why might someone want to stay in psychosis?

Author Abigail Gosselin writes that her verbal auditory hallucination, often assumed by others to be harmful or threatening in nature, offered a salve to loneliness, even as it told her to kill herself. This perceived benefit and others Gosselin shares offer insight into why people in psychosis may struggle to adhere to treatment and medication plans.

Danish moms have a built-in support group through the healthcare system

Local Danish health departments put these groups together, assigning mothers into small support groups comprised of mothers in roughly the same area who gave birth around the same time. The purpose of the groups is to create a supportive network of new parents who can benefit from one another's experiences. The group's mothers decide how often to meet and what to discuss.

Peloton's success is partly due to users' relationships with instructors

Despite Peloton's online model, most users feel a deep connection with the instructors and have created community groups around their shared identities (like being a mom or a lawyer). The relationship users have with their instructors has fueled consistent engagement and paved the way for instructors to take on personal brand deals. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Patients are a part of the progress

Navigating a cancer diagnosis can be terrifying and overwhelming. There is a robust community of patient advocates dedicated to prevention and diagnosis, research and clinical trials, legislation, needs of individual cancer types, among others. See how patient advocacy improves cancer research leading to improved treatment options and patient care.

Why do people join cults?

This quick TED video dives into some of the social psychology behind membership in radical cults, including famous ones where members took their own lives.

Support groups may not be private and can suddenly change focus

Sexual assault survivors that had gathered on a Facebook support group were shocked when administrators suddenly changed the group into one for sharing erotica. Its members were trolled, and ultimately, it was unclear whether its creators had planned for this shocking shift or if the group had been hacked. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Fantasy sports can also offer community

Fantasy leagues often carry over from year to year, allowing people to hang on to (or forge) connections with others. Matthew Berry, a fantasy football analyst for NBC Sports, argues, “the truth is it’s all about the people. It’s not the draft, it’s not the trash talk or the punishments … It’s the people who make the draft and the trash talk and the punishments and the winning what it is.”

People who feel connected to nature also report a higher well-being

Based on data collected from over 38,000 participants across 75 countries, spending time appreciating Earth's beauty appears to increase one's satisfaction with life. Whether it's a hike in the woods, a dip in the ocean, or time spent watching the sunset, the findings held true across a wide range of economic, cultural, and environmental contexts. The findings also indicate that connection to nature fosters experiences of being present and attentive, which are strongly linked to mental health.

Boy culture pressures teens to hide emotions, weakening their friendships over time

Cultural norms about masculinity teach boys to suppress vulnerability and prioritize independence over time, resulting in isolation. Given that humans are social creatures, mental health struggles gradually become more common through this abandonment of connection.

The reason some people love exercise may be because of their microbiome

Certain gut microbes in mice trigger dopamine release and drive motivation to exercise more. Scientists are investigating whether humans carry similar microbial patterns that influence our natural inclination towards movement, exploring how unseen microbial ecosystems may shape mammalian fitness behavior and reinforce innate reward pathways. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

True crime fans can sometimes disregard the real people and trauma behind cases

True crime content has become a social gathering place. In addition to content generated by creators, consumer-driven true crime spaces have blossomed on social media. In these spaces, consumers track developments and share theories as if criminal cases are sports. Citizen sleuths can sometimes inspire new leads but often add to survivors' suffering and sling speculation that can clog tip lines and hit innocent bystanders.

The peer support movement may date back to 18th century France

At the Bicêtre Hospital, an asylum near Paris, Jean-Baptiste Pussin (who had previously been a patient but later led the hospital administration) tried to hire as many staff as possible from among recovered patients. Chief physician Philippe Pinel found these individuals to be kinder than other staff and "averse from active cruelty" which was common at the time. This approach allowed the facility to move away from shackling patients and other violent methods.

Consistency and emotional engagement can improve the formation of memories

While sleep lets the brain re-trigger neurons associated with our experiences to cement them in long-term memory, repeating actions, like storing one's keys in the same location, can mimic these benefits. Emotionally charged memories are often ruminated upon, improving their future recall.

Pay transparency advocates claim that increased awareness about how much coworkers are being paid helps stop speculative judgments about other team members' pay based on faulty data points, like what type of car a coworker drives.

Who provides therapy is more important than what method they practice

What makes therapy work well is the connection that patients feel with their therapist, and the trust in that relationship. Some research suggests that while the therapeutic model—say cognitive behavior therapy or psychodynamic therapy—accounts for roughly 15% of outcomes, the therapeutic relationship with the therapist accounts for more than 30%.

See America's loneliness and disconnection—charted.

A major dopamine hit from social media use comes from unpredictability—not knowing if the content users post or share will get the 'like' from other users, triggering cycles of anticipation similar to those experienced with a slot machine.

Doctors are prescribing social activities—and seeing good results

Physicians, especially in the UK, are asking patients what they enjoy and then prescribing a consistent regimen of doing that type of activity to improve fitness and overall health, including community exercise classes, volunteering, and spending time in nature. This approach may provide better incentives to stick with an activity.

How memes create in-groups

Memes can hop offline, inspiring IRL events ranging from planking to shootings. By nature, memes contribute to the formation of in-groups, ones who are privy to meanings that escape content moderators who don't necessarily recognize what's hidden within layers of references.

Generally, NBA basketball teams whose players touch each other more win more games

This 2010 research finding underscores the importance of touch in promoting trust, bonding, and cooperation, thereby apparently improving team success. Touch also promotes cooperation in other settings: In a separate "prisoner's dilemma" study, when the experimenter gently touched some participants with a quick pat on the back, the touched individuals were more likely to cooperate and share with their partner.

Psychology research shows that conspiracy theorists tend to have a desire to be unique

While conspiracy theorists are often understood to have feelings of powerlessness in their lives, research suggests they may also be inclined to set themselves apart from the masses.

Alcoholics Anonymous leads to increased abstinence compared with other treatments

That's according to a 2020 meta-review of 27 studies. This large analysis found that Alcoholics Anonymous had between 22 and 37 percent abstinence numbers as compared to other treatments that had figures of about 15 to 25 percent. AA was founded in 1935, in Ohio, and depends on peer connections and consistent meeting availability. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Links between long-term caregiving and chronic stress

This Cleveland Clinic overview suggests that around 60% of people caring for family or loved ones with health conditions will experience burnout. Caregivers prepare meals, help with transportation, administer medications, and perform daily tasks for others, all while managing their own lives. This guide may help readers overcome the guilt or frustration of long-term caregiving to seek alternative options.

As of 2025, increasing numbers of people turn to AI companions for emotional connection

These chatbots provide endlessly supportive, one-sided, and highly customizable relationships to users, but may hinder the development of real-world connections and emotional growth. About 72% of teens have tried AI companions, with more than half of them using one regularly.

How Peloton got moms hooked

Peloton's at-home workout classes were a game-changer for parents, giving them a chance to squeeze a workout in without leaving the house. The community group feature on Peloton created a sense of community that made users incredibly loyal to the brand.

Adhesion molecules and intercellular junctions allow cells to connect together

While some organic structures are mostly composed of non-cellular components (e.g., collagen and calcium phosphate minerals in bones), tissues and organs composed of connected cells rely on specialized proteins and connections to create watertight seals that protect cells within the interior from environmental molecules.

Watch an insider break down how multilevel marketing companies operate—from recruitment to retention.

Grieving is a process—no need to rush social activities or major life decisions, if possible

Individuals experiencing grief may find comfort through counseling, online support groups, support books, and activities like volunteering. Each of these resources can help individuals build a community or new daily patterns when navigating intense anguish.

Volunteering can alleviate the feeling of loneliness

The Freakonomics team explored loneliness in this 2020 podcast episode and discussed how volunteering can be a powerful way to make lonely individuals feel needed, like they have a purpose, and combat feelings of isolation.

Grit: passion combined with perseverance over an extended time

Roughly defined as a balance of perseverance and passion, Angela Duckworth defines this combination as an essential component of reaching long-term goals. Not merely about talent or luck, Duckworth argues the personality trait enables individuals to maintain their commitment to significant objectives over extended periods, despite facing challenges and setbacks.

Smart cities support interdepartmental goals by facilitating shared infrastructure

Instead of working in isolation, municipal departments can share data, such as lighting and telecom needs, seamlessly and collaborate to solve larger-scale problems together. Integrating public feedback systems can further improve city services and sustainability.

Are we too attached to attachment styles?

Attachment theory was developed to help understand the impact of caregiver relationships on children. Recently, the theory has been applied to adults, categorizing them into different attachment styles. Is it accurate? This podcasts takes a closer...

Activity trackers promise to improve health by forcing us to examine the facts

Explore how modern fitness culture, rooted in capitalist ideals of productivity and control, shapes our perception of health and self-worth. The author blends cultural criticism with personal insight to examine the contradictions of the wellness industry, the rise of wearable tech, and what it means to "optimize" a body.