Abstract
About a century ago, there was a shift from humans contracting and dying from infectious diseases to living with non-infectious chronic diseases. Through advancements in medicine, chronic diseases are manageable, however, they are life-long and often debilitating. When chronically ill individuals struggle to adjust, and make sense of their disease, they are likely to benefit from participating in illness support groups. The benefits of support groups are usually explained by proximal factors such as social support. We explore three sets of evolutionary adaptations to provide ultimate explanations for the value of social support: attachment, group membership, and collective identity. These three concepts suggest that support groups assist with regulating emotions, belonging, and integrating chronic illness into one’s identity. Although attachment theory highlights important aspects of coping with chronic illness, it is framed in dyadic terms, which is ill-fitting for support groups. Support groups are beneficial because they capitalize on the ancient adaptations of belonging and collective identity. Practical applications of these evolutionary concepts for chronic illness support groups are discussed.
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Notes
Support and self-help groups are viewed differently, in that professionals tend to lead support groups, whereas laypersons (usually members of the group themselves) tend to lead self-help groups (Kurtz 2004). In this paper, we use the term ‘support group’ to refer to both types, as we are not focusing on the leadership of the group, but rather on the widespread attraction to and benefits of support groups.
A support group for women with heart disease http://www.womenheart.org/?About_UsChampions.
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Lehardy, E.N., Fowers, B.J. Ultimate (evolutionary) explanations for the attraction and benefits of chronic illness support groups: Attachment, belonging, and collective identity. Curr Psychol 39, 1405–1415 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9841-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9841-7