Even when family and friends are supportive, they really do not know what is feels like to have cancer. This is where the efficacy of a support group comes into play. Once a patient finds a support group where she feels comfortable discussing her situation with strangers, the people in this group will provide her with a feeling of security and belonging. The support group will become her buffer against the outside world. The patient can express powerful emotions that she was unable to verbalize to her loved ones, and she realizes she was not crazy to be feeling all the things she was feeling.
Support groups provide beneficial group intervention.
But it is essential for the patient to recognize when it is time to leave the group. The cancer patient needs to take stock and ask herself if she really needs to continue. She will know when it is time to move on and to concentrate on her life as a cancer survivor. Hopefully, once the patient has completed the treatment of her breast cancer and realizes breast cancer is a survivable disease, her fear will have lessened. But patients report the fear of recurrence is always present.