Hmmm... I'm not sure I ever gave it much thought honestly, although I will say the term "friends" is always a little weird for me, because it has different connotations online for different people, a bar that is sometimes too high for me. So I don't get too caught up in the "friend" label here as it's not very meaningful in and of itself. Full disclosure, DS and LinkedIn are the only social media platform groups I belong to and DS is the only one I'm proactively regularly participating in. I don't have a Facebook account or anything else.

I'm casually friendly with DS members and even a few over the years that I've come to know rather personally and consider actual friends, sort of like pen pal confidantes. In my mind though, that is very separate and distinct from peer support, for me. I feel like I receive support (and hope at times provide it) solely from being active on the DS groups that resonate with me or that help me. A lot of that support just comes from reading and contemplating what others post, or engaging in conversation. I don't feel I have to be a DS "friend" to get and give that. In fact sometimes some of the deepest connections and most helpful support has been with people who posted once or twice but there was something profound in that encounter that really fortified me.

In general I think of DS and the members as a "support network." I think the term peer does imply shared experience so it's fitting here I think, even if the experiences aren't exactly the same. I do think it may technically be categorized as "social support" but... a rose by any other name.

I've only belonged to one in-person support group in my life and it was a very long time ago. I am so literal that I just referred to those in the group as fellow "group members," haha! But yes it was definitely a peer support group. I guess if I'm honest, I categories folks the same here on DS, as "group members." But I still consider it "peer" support.

As far as expectations of my peer supporters, that's a really good question because I do think it's unique to everyone. It's a very mixed bag online due to the number of people interacting. I like conversational interaction. Some people just want to vent, Some people want actual advice. Some people give advice and others just want to share what works for them. And everything in between. I feel like that's the beauty of it; you get different styles of sharing and receiving and we each can decide what we want to really take in or brush aside.

I think "brothers and sisters in healing" is a beautiful description, because it speaks to what I think of as the essence of peer support: by sharing our experiences, we are both helping others and healing ourselves.

A peer is really someone who could be watching you, peer means to look. Why get all flustered about a word when it has no bearing on your recovery. If I was hospitalized with a broken leg and another person in my room had one too, no matter age, gender, etc., that person could be both supportive and able to understand my pain. So too could my doctor, nurse, or a plethora of others. Age, etc., doesn’t necessary define a peer, but anyone out there who actually hears you and responds, be it positive or negative.

I never thought of peer as someone watching you. That’s an interesting take. Peer the verb is watching but peer the noun is someone considered equal or on the same level. I think by that definition alone a peer is technically anyone who is sort of aligned with you either by level (like in a job) or by shared experience (peer support). I agree it doesn’t have to align by age or gender but it could depending on what the support is related to. In the case of mental health, peer support could be a mixed bag of demographics with a shared experience of mental health issues/recovery.

Support can come in many ways. For me personally, support from a doctor or friend or spouse is a very different kind of support than peer support.

Interesting topic!