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Home > About childhood cancer > For parents >Parents have told us that they feel their old lives stop when they receive their child’s diagnosis. Some feel they benefit from talking to people with similar experiences.
Online support and self-help groups can provide this kind of moral support. At their best they can provide comfort, making you feel less alone or isolated. However, parents have also told us that some groups may not be so helpful.
Parents have helped us create these pros and cons of online support groups, blogs and forums.
They work well when:
- They provide moral support and understanding in a safe, responsible environment.
- They reduce anxiety about the diagnosis or symptoms.
They don’t work so well when:
- Individuals within the group encourage others to use alternative therapies rather than prescribed medication.
- Moderators are not suitably monitoring the group.
- Postings are highly negative without being balanced by positive, inspirational feedback.
- Postings claiming to be factual prove to have no scientific basis.
- You feel pressure to donate money or buy a product.
If you don’t feel comfortable with a group, forum or blog you can always leave. If in doubt, talk to your social worker.
CLIC Sargent has an online community where you can create your own profile, share your story and meet other parents on our message board. It is pre-moderated, meaning all posts have to be approved before they are visible. This is to ensure the environment is supportive and safe.
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