My Young Patient’s Perspective on Self-Help and Peer Support

My self-help story begins with the opportunity to be part of a family. This family taught me how to be open and honest, ask for help when I need it and offer support to others. In fact, my life as a volunteer started before I even realised.

I am the daughter of an alcoholic. After many years of struggles and a broken marriage, my parents found a way to change their lives. It was Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) that helped my father to recover through in-depth personal transformation. During his recovery from his addiction, my father became aware of the negative effects his choices had on us – his relatives. This is why he encouraged me to go to a self-help meeting for people who have addicts in their families.

My father’s good example was the reason I tried self-help groups, although the idea of meeting and sharing with complete strangers seemed very unusual to me.

Self-help groups, also known as mutual help, mutual aid, or support groups, are groups of people who provide shared support for each other. In these groups, members share a common problem—often a disease or addiction. Participants’ collective goal is to help each other cope with, and, when possible, heal or recover from this problem, through learning and sharing experiences.

Once I’d first entered the meeting room, I kept going back for more than 5 years. It became a place where I felt safe—like home. This was a place where people understood my problems—a place for support, good practice, mutual respect and, most of all, self-love and hope. There, I understood how important it is to share and help in return. The meetings helped me to unravel my emotions and understand more about my experience.

After I was introduced to meetings, I started to feel better about myself and was ready to be there for other people. As in the game “pass on”, I continue to pass positive messages and support to others today as a volunteer with KZZ and EPF’s Youth Group, both patients’ organizations.

I still attend meetings, work as a volunteer and deeply believe that the process of recovery starts with the single act of sharing and asking for help. Suffering is a struggle when you face it alone but can be a new beginning when you embrace it with love and support.

Yolita Pavlova

Yolita Pavlova

Yolita Pavlova has been a member of the EPF Youth Group since 2012. She is also a young representative of the Confederation of Health Protection (KZZ) in Bulgaria and took part in the EMPATHY project in Brussels in 2013.

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Yolita Pavlova

About Yolita Pavlova

Yolita Pavlova has been a member of the EPF Youth Group since 2012. She is also a young representative of the Confederation of Health Protection (KZZ) in Bulgaria and took part in the EMPATHY project in Brussels in 2013.

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