WARRINGTON South MP Sarah Hall joined the October monthly meeting of the Warrington Bipolar UK Support Group (WBSG) to find out more about the chronic illness by joining in with group discussions about their lived experiences.
Facilitator and former Mayor of Warrington, Geoff Settle, said “Steve, one of our members, had met Sarah Hall MP a couple of weeks before when she knocked on his door whilst out canvassing. He discovered that she was very passionate about mental health as the following interview with BBC News illustrates”
Sarah Hall: ‘People like me with ADHD are well placed to be MPs’ – BBC News
Steve said: “Sarah was so passionate about mental health that I just had to invite her to one of our monthly meetings so that she could join in and learn how we work as a supportive group offering help and advice to each other. There isn’t any other type of support readily available unless you are prepared and able to afford to pay.”
Geoff added: “At the start of each meeting, I read out the Bipolar UK Code of Conduct. What is said in the in the room stays in the room. Keeping things within the group is one factor that makes it a safe place for people to talk openly and freely about their condition, something they find hard to do elsewhere. Having said this we do encourage family, friends and carers to attend, which is of great benefit to them as well.
“Once the Code of conduct has been read, then I ask everyone what value their mood is on the mood card. The values range from 0 to 10 with 0 being severely depressed and 10 manias. Balance mood scores are between 4 and 6, which is the range that most people are in when they come to a meeting. I then invite people to talk about how things have been since the last meeting. I try and encourage everyone to keep a mood diary or enter their scores on the BipolarUK app on their phone, so they can discuss them with their medical professional.
“Sarah found this a very useful exercise and said that the process was very interesting and she could see some similarities between ADHD and bipolar. This is something that I need to investigate more because at least three of our members are also ADHD.”
Steve describes bipolar as a lifelong illness for which there is no known cure. Each person is different, and getting the correct medication is a bit like trial-and-error by the clinical psychiatrist. They experiment with what medication(s) will level out mood swings and minimise the bipolar highs and lows. He recommends the excellent BipolarUK.org website Bipolar UK National UK Charity for a great amount of content and videos.
One area where Geoff hopes that Sarah can help is getting across the message and awareness of the condition to parliamentary committees and MPs such as those published in the BipolarUK Commission instigated by their CEO Simon Kitchen.
The bipolar commission calls for a dedicated care pathway for specialist treatment and continuity of support will exist over a lifetime. Bipolar Commission
Some of the findings include an estimate that 1 million people suffer from the chronic illness, impacting on 5 million family members. It costs the British Economy something like £20 billion/yr. Someone with bipolar takes their life every day. People will die 10 – 15 years earlier than the general population, and it takes 9.5 years for a diagnosis.
Geoff said: “The stakes are high, and the resources are limited, we all can’t afford to pay Priory prices for help and treatment. BipolarUK are working very hard to change things and we appreciate any help and influence that Sarah can bring to Westminster to raise awareness of the condition. The WBSG are playing our part in Warrington through the work of the group and by accepting invitations to take part in research studies at Northwest universities
“Steve and I are just embarking on a new research project at Manchester University. It aims to evaluate the feasibility of a brief compassionate-focused intervention for older adults with bipolar disorder. The research will involve engaging in a 9-session intervention targeting negative thinking, feelings of guilt and shame, and cultivating compassion for self and others. We will be bringing back to the Warrington group how the research is going and hopefully when it concludes the benefits that accrue.
“Finally, I must thank the people of Warrington who contributed to my Mayoral Charities because they funded the setting up of the Warrington BipolarUK support group which is still going after 10 years and made a great contribution to so many people.”
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Thanks for your continued support for bipolar.