Yes, I’ve been on the radio!

But first, some background. I attend a monthly meeting for people living with bipolar disorder. This meeting is for mutual support. We discuss various treatments, our recent experiences – or histories if we have new participants – and any lifestyle tips we have found effective.

Before covid, we used to have about a dozen people who would attend regularly. During covid and for a few years afterwards, the meetings stopped, as the organisation under whose umbrella we operate was in some disarray. When we eventually started again, it was to find we only had four members, the others having moved away, got jobs which meant they couldn’t attend, were managing their condition so successfully they felt they no longer needed the group or, in a couple of sad cases, had died.

We need new members, or it just isn’t worth booking the room. What could we do to advertise it? We put up posters in the local GP surgeries, and our facilitator presented to the local mental health team, with the idea that they could recommend the group to their patients, but so far, there have been no new attendees.

A neighbour of mine is the host of the breakfast programme on the local community radio and has won several awards. I had the idea of asking him to have the facilitator, Daljit, and me on his show. He is always looking for new material and was agreeable. 

Accordingly, we recorded a piece for his show. He came round to my house armed just with his mobile phone and interviewed us. He asked us to describe what bipolar disorder is and about our experiences living with the condition. He was interested in what treatment was available and how effective it could be. Then he asked, as he had been prompted, about our support group.

The piece went out twice and both times my neighbour had people phoning in to say that they, or a family member, had bipolar disorder and that the way it had been explained on the programme was exactly how they experienced it. When I listened to the recording, I was very pleased. A lot of people don’t like the sound of their own voice when they listen to a recording, but I was pleasantly surprised by the way Daljit and I came across.

It remains to be seen whether the radio show increases our attendance. The next meeting is tomorrow afternoon. I hope we might get a couple of new people who come along. I should hate to see the group close as it is important that people with bipolar order don’t feel so alone. There is still some stigma out there. Many people are wary of anyone with bipolar disorder, and few are well informed about it.

I’m proud that Daljit and I were brave enough to get ourselves out there. Hopefully, it was one more step in educating people as well as gaining members for our group.

Mary

A Moodscope member