With 1.3 billion people on the web today it’s a safe bet that at least a few of them have shared experiences and the promise of the web as a global support group is something that is finally being realized. There have been specialized web sites for specific ailments for as long as there has been a world wide web, covering everything from lung cancer to obesity to social anxiety to alcoholism.
PatientsLikeMe is a social network for people to share experiences based around mental and physical illness. People can use the site to connect with others experiencing the same issues, discuss treatments, and track progress.
Trusera feels a little like MySpace centered around health issues. People who join Trusera are given a profile on which they can share stories, keep a journal, and create discussions about the things they are dealing with. The site aims to connect people with similar medical backgrounds so they can discuss and share common experiences.
DailyStrength is a huge network of online support groups. The site lets users discuss medical conditions with people experiencing the same thing but with the anonymity of the Internet if they desire to stay hidden.
Hope Cube is another fairly new social network based around the idea of people providing support for others going through the same things they’re dealing with. In addition to basic social networking features, the site has a Yahoo! Answers-like health discussion community, and uniquely has a list of trained professionals available as friends on the site.
iMedix is a MySpace-style social networking site that links people based on common medical conditions. Users enter conditions they are interested in and the site uses tags to link them together.
Healia is a slickly designed health community site based around questions and answers. Users form groups around specific health issues and ask and answer questions in a Yahoo! Answers-style environment and the site has a list of trained medical professionals who participate as well.
ICYou is a health video sharing site. Patients and doctors upload videos sharing the latest health information, their own personal experiences, or advice for others.
TauMed has a question and answer site, topical health guides, communities based around specific ailments, health news, health information search, video sharing, patient stories, a drug database, and even a directory of doctors.
MDJunction is a network of online support groups and discussion boards that feels a lot like DailyStrength — right down to the concept of “hugs.” In addition to the discussion board based support groups, MDJunction has a MySpace-style social network with all the usual trimmings.
While Ning isn’t specifically a health related support site, it is one of the best places to find social networks devoted to specific physical or mental health issues. Ning has over 220,000 social networks and is growing at a rate of 1,000 per day.
If you’re craving a more face-to-face support setting, try Meetup to find a real world support group in your town.