We put this poster on to our awareness page on Facebook a couple of weeks ago.

Unless people are in the position of having an ongoing illness, or caring for someone with one, they possibly have no idea just how much online communities mean.

No matter what time of day or night, there is normally somebody available for a chat. This is so important when you live with certain conditions. Sometimes people can become quite down, even severely depressed, and the knowledge that having someone there is invaluable.

Someone once wrote that online communities are just one big pity party. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Some people do need to have a bit of a moan, and to be able to do that to people who understand. It is a way of coping. But there are people who are constantly trying to help, trying to pull them through their down spell.

Where would we be without those social networking sites?

TN is often seen as a condition with no cure and  no hope, but hopefully with online groups, people can get support and help. And until there is an actual End to Trigeminal Neuralgia, we'll be thankful for the invention of the internet.