New bipolar support helps people with kindness

Chris Harrison, who has bipolar, or manic depression as it used to be known, has joined forces with three friends to start up a support group for people with the condition.

The first monthly meeting was held earlier this month, and going forward its aim is to get people talking about the mental health condition; sharing their tips for coping and having guest speakers to talk on different issues.

Chris, 63, said: “We hope it will be a place where people can support each other through sharing their experiences and kindness.

“If you’re bipolar, and you meet somebody else with it, you open up in a way you couldn’t do with anybody else, even, perhaps, your partner.

“Even though your partner may be able to support you, they have never felt like you have, and they don’t fully understand what you are going through.

“I’m lucky in that my wife, Mary, has been very supportive and has stuck by me, as for whatever reason a lot of bipolar people’s marriages break up.”

The bipolar support group’s next meeting is at Methold House in North Street, Worthing, on June 5, at 7pm.

Those interested in attending, whether they have bipolar or are the carer or family member of somebody that has, can just turn up and enter via the back door.

For more information about the condition, visit www.bipolaruk.org.uk or call 0207 9316480.