|
Why visit Lyme Disease Discussion Groups? Neither conventional nor alternative medicine has all the answers about Lyme Disease. As sufferers of Lyme Disease, we must stick together, share information, and move ahead as a united group, helping one another sift through the endless books, articles, and websites available. Lyme
Disease is set apart from other medical conditions because breakthroughs in Lyme Disease treatment often result from collaboration, cooperation, and research conducted by the Lyme Disease community itself, in comparison with breakthroughs in other areas of health research, which are often
attained via outside research organizations such as pharmaceutical companies and universities. We can all learn from one another and in many cases, our personal experiences with helpful or harmful treatments can provide road-maps for one another.
One of the best methods by which to communicate with Lyme Disease sufferers is the establishment of Lyme Disease support groups.
Historically, these support groups have involved actual in-person meetings. Now, because of technology, internet-based discussion groups are becoming more and more popular and accessible.
Internet discussion forums provide a gathering medium in which Lyme Disease sufferers can get together for the purpose of making new friends, sharing treatment information, supporting one another, and building a database of Lyme Disease information. Internet discussion groups have several advantages over regional, geographically organized support groups that meet in individual cities and towns. Although local support groups obviously foster deeper interpersonal relationships, internet support groups provide these advantages:
1. These groups are accessible to everyone, even people who live in remote, rural locations where local support groups may not be available. What's more, internet discussion groups are accessible from your own living room so the travel time, expense, and
inconvenience involved in attending local support groups is avoided.
2. When participating in an internet discussion group, there is no need to block off a certain evening of the week to meet with the
participants. Internet discussion groups are available at all times, day or night. You can post your own messages and read other peoples� messages whenever you like. Participants can read your messages and respond to you whenever it is convenient for them. It is easy to integrate participation in internet discussion forums into your daily life. You can access an internet group for a few minutes on your lunch break, at night before you go to sleep, or on a leisurely Sunday afternoon.
3. Much of the current research on and information about Lyme
Disease is being distributed on the internet instead of in newspapers or printed publications. Obviously, the internet is becoming more and more influential in the flow of information in dozens of industries. Participants on an internet discussion group can easily share with each other recent online news articles by simply posting links. In comparison, in order to share information at a local support group, someone must print the information, make copies, and remember to bring them on the actual night of the meeting.
4. Most internet discussion groups have storage archives where past messages are indefinitely retained. Search functions utilizing key-words make it quick and easy to go back through months or years of discussion history to isolate topics you are interested in or re-searching. In this way, resources and discussions are effortlessly
organized into a useful, continually growing database of information. In comparison, local support group meetings are not recorded, and, once the meeting is over, the information exchanged and
discussions had will be soon forgotten forever and will become
inaccessible to people who could not attend. Even if the meeting was recorded or videotaped, specific discussions or topics will be
difficult to recall quickly without cumbersome fast-forwarding and re-winding of audio or video tapes. On an internet discussion group, in a matter of seconds, you can find specific topics discussed over a wide range of time.
5. Local support groups have attendance of anywhere from five to 50 people on average. Many of the larger internet discussion groups focusing on Lyme Disease have hundreds or thousands of
members. While local support groups are small gatherings, internet sup-port groups are large conventions. Internet discussion groups allow you to not only benefit from the experiences, knowledge, and
contribution of a few people who live in your hometown, but also to enjoy access to thousands of Lyme Disease sufferers and
researchers all around the world. Information exchange becomes
centralized instead of decentralized.
Naturally, internet discussion groups will never replace the
interpersonal interactions that occur when people meet together in person. How-ever, as you can see, participation in online discussion groups can be beneficial in numerous ways. And an added bonus is that the vast majority of the groups are available absolutely free of charge.
There are dozens of online Lyme Disease support groups―three of the most useful and informative are the Lyme-and-Rife group, Lyme
Community Forums, and LymeNet.
**RECOMMENDED SITE -- Lyme Disease Network. The Lyme Disease network was established in 1994 and offers numerous resources, including a large online discussion group with over 11,000 members! Visit the group at
www.lymenet.org. The
Salt / Vitamin C Treatment Group. This group has more than
1200 members and was founded for the purpose of discussing the
Salt / Vitamin C treatment. Access the group at: https://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lymestrategies/ The
Marshall Protocol Discussion Group. This group is intended for
discussion of the Marshall Protocol (MP), and has more than 3,000
members. Access the group at https://www.marshallprotocol.com.
The Lyme-and-Rife
group. This group was established in April of 2003 and has over 2,000 members. It focuses on using rife machine technology to treat Lyme Disease. Access the group at
https://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lyme-and-rife/.
Lyme Community Forums. This group was established in November of 2006. It is the primary discussion forum for numerous Lyme Disease topics. You can access the group at
www.lymecommunity.com.
|
