Peer Support

Many affected people feel alone…. And that doesn’t have to be the case at all…

Contact between fellow sufferers has long been seen as valuable. Meanwhile, research by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Depression Association and the Nijmegen Depression Expertise Centre has also scientifically shown that peer support can be really helpful on the road to recovery.

This is why we like to fulfill a connecting function for peer support.

ON SATURDAY JANUARY 25th 2025, THE THIRD PEER SUPPORT DAY WILL BE HELD.

Contact with people who have gone through similar experiences can offer a sense of recognition and understanding that is hard to find elsewhere. Through this contact, you find comfort in being understood and feel less alone.
In contact with a fellow sufferer, it feels safe to express emotions and you receive support from people who know what it is like to go through difficult times.
Besides emotional support, peers can also share valuable practical tips, advice and information on how they have dealt with specific situations. This can range from treatment options to coping strategies and navigating everyday life with a particular challenge.

Hearing others’ stories, seeing or reading about how they cope with their challenges can offer a fellow sufferer a sense of empowerment and inspiration. It can encourage you to become more resilient and discover new ways of dealing with your own situation.

That is why more and more peer supports are sharing their stories via ItsME, joining the private Facebook group We with ME and/or coming to our annual Peer Support Day. Join the growing group of peers who are listening to each other and sharing experiences.

PEER SUPPORT DAY

Every year, we organise a fellow sufferers’ day. Since this year, we prefer the word ‘peer support’ instead of ‘fellow sufferers’.

The word ‘peer support’ has a more active energy. It suggests partnership, solidarity, and joint struggle against a common challenge. It implies a conscious decision to support each other and work together, which can create a more positive and powerful feeling.

And that is exactly what we want! Instead, we want to highlight the strength and resilience of the group.

The Peer Support Day is for everyone who has had brain (meningitis) themselves and their loved ones.

THE THIRD PEER SUPPORT DAY – SATURDAY JANUARY 25, 2025 – ERNST SILLEM HOEVE IN DEN DOLDER

‘“Stronger together: sharing and discovering” is the theme of our third Peer Support Day. This day is organized by the ItsME Foundation in cooperation with the Dutch Meningitis Foundation.
During such a day there is plenty of opportunity to exchange experiences with allies and ask questions to medical specialists, and experienced experts.

Would you like to attend? You can register via this link.

Do you know someone affected by a meningitis or encephalitis?

All allies and their loved ones are very welcome to attend the next edition. Send an email to info@itsme-foundation for more information.

There is also a closed Facebook group ‘WE with ME’. If you sign up there, you will be quickly admitted to the group and can get in direct contact with fellow sufferers.

2023 Aftermovie The day when everything changed

Fellow sufferer stories

ItsME Moniek Tollensma*

Auto-immune limbic encephalitis

It was early June 2023 when I went to the GP several times because I knew something was not OK...

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ItsME Pieter Broertjes

Viral encephalitis

I changed from perfectly healthy to very sick - the encephalitis took its toll. In April 2021 things went wrong....

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ItsME Sander Hendrix

Herpes simplex encephalitis & Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

The Day Everything Changed. On 12 September 2020, my brain suddenly stopped doing what it was supposed to do. The...

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ItsME Anouk Schwegler

Auto-immune encephalitis

Friday 22 July 2022, the last day of the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen with the arrival on Via Gladiola....

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ItsME Joop Lahaise

Limbic encephalitis

Lost. Where am I? What are we doing here? We are near home, but I have no idea where we...

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ItsME Trea Cuperus

2x Anti NMDA-R encephalitis

And very suddenly my life took a completely different turn. It was during the preparations for my high school re-exam...

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ItsME Susan Sterke

2x Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

A trip to remember America was the destination, three weeks on the road with a rented motorhome. We had already...

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ItsME Elise Pit

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

The Day That My Life Changed Too I was a single mother with two beautiful sons aged 10 and 8....

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ItsME Frea de Haan

LGI1-antibody encephalitis

On the night of 16-17 July 2017, I suddenly ended up in the Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) in Enschede by...

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ItsME Carlien Jansen

Meningitis & encephalitis

As a young girl, I always had one big dream, to provide vaccinations to children in Africa so they wouldn't...

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ItsME Oda Berkhout

LGI1-antibody encephalitis

In May 2017, I was on holiday and noticed that there were gaps in my memory. For example, I work...

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ItsME Dorry Cox

Herpes simplex encephalitis

In May 2018, my world changed and with it my partner's. I have no memories of the day it happened,...

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ItsME Kim Ditewig

Herpes simplex encephalitis & Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

When I was 14 years old, my life changed overnight. I am now five years further and 19 years old....

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ItsME Kitty Smeets

Anti-LGI1 encephalitis

I too have a history of autoimmune encephalitis. It all started in autumn 2017. I had a nice job and...

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ItsME Lia Peters-Vrolijk

Herpes simplex encephalitis

After a long flight from Australia to the Netherlands (at the end of March 2015), I thought the jet lag...

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ItsME Michel van den Adel

Limbic encephalitis

"Good morning Mr. van den Adel. Can you tell me what day it is today, and do you know where...

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ItsME Roelof Landman

Caspr2 encephalitis

The black hole We drive from home by car to Cuyk. It is a normal weekday. At the second exit...

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ItsME Sung Ritsema

Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

In late November 2017, I was driving with my eldest child -then 2 years old- in the car in the...

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ItsME Saskia Hazelaar Wijnholds

Anti-GAD encephalitis

In late 2019, my mother (then 61) developed strange symptoms. She was tired, had pain in her legs and her...

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ItsME Britt Gansewinkel

Herpes simplex encephalitis & Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis

Heading into the final year of the HBO Nursing course in 2020, I was busy publishing my research in the...

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ItsME Trodessa Barton

Meningitis

In the summer of 2018, I was enjoying a wonderful holiday in Cape Verde with my family. When out of...

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ItsME Henriëtte Veen

Anti-GAD encephalitis

July 2009, we went on holiday to the Czech Republic as a family. On the fourth day, I felt unwell...

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