Alleviating Survivor Loneliness: The Value of Expressive Gift Systems in Peer-to-Peer Online Patient Survivor Networks', Qualitative Consumer Research

Implications emphasize the need among survivors of trauma to connect with others. Digital technologies allow connections on a global scale, so survivors can find others with similar needs. Peer-to-peer networks provide a way for survivors to meet, interact with, and extend their aggregate selves through other survivors, while experiencing a transcendent sense that they are part of something bigger than self alone.