Cover Story: 4) Dawn Williams
Leads poorly attended support group meetings
Dawn Williams has grappled with agoraphobia and panic disorder since 1995. “I’m not homebound,” she says of her affliction. “But I’m not comfortable going places alone.”
Last year, Williams started a support group for similarly afflicted locals, the Atlanta Panic Disorders and Phobia Meetup Group. “I wanted to create a space where we could support each other,” she explains.
As of October 2007, her group had 84 members. But out of those 84 members, only two regularly show up for the meetings. And of the 10 members who RSVP’d to September’s meeting, only one came.
When she started the group, Williams anticipated that meeting attendance would be a problem. The same disorders and phobias that prompt people to seek out such a support group also make it extremely difficult for them to leave their homes to attend meetings.
The severity of the attendance problem nevertheless surprised her. “I knew it was going to be difficult, but I didn’t think it was going to be this difficult,” she says. “In most cases, I think their phobias inhibit them. There’s a lot of avoidance that comes with phobias. People want to talk about it, but the fear is strong. Then there’s the shame.”
She has tried to improve meeting attendance by seeking advice from leaders of other, similarly themed support groups. She e-mailed the person who runs the Atlanta Shyness and Social Anxiety support group for tips. Williams found out he has the same problem she does. Of the shyness group’s 109 members, only two attended its September meeting, according to its website. The group’s organizer didn’t respond to repeated requests for an interview. Perhaps he was too shy.
Williams says her low point as a support-group organizer was the August 2007 meeting. “Someone suggested a group picnic; 24 group members RSVP’d, but only one person showed up,” she says. “And he was an hour late.”
Despite that, Williams says she’ll press on. She enjoys the companionship of the two regular attendees and feels compassion for the 82 members of her group who will not, or in some cases cannot, attend meetings.
“For the most part, I know what they’re going through.”