Support group

What happens if you are in an illness related support group?Do you turn up once a week to talk about your illness. It must be hard for people who are bedridden?

It all depends on the support group.

I go to a bipolar group. We meet together and we go round the room saying how we are and discussing anything people raise. We have breaks which give us an opportunity to chat in smaller groups. Sometimes we have speakers or watch a video. We have books that people can borrow.

Some support groups have people that teach coping skills, others go out together. I've come across a bipolar group that meets in a pub and another that meets in a shopping centre.

My local mental health trust also runs groups - these are organised and run by nurses rather than by patients, whereas the other group I go to is run by people with the condition.

People also join online groups. I belong to a small one that's by invitation only and password-protected, but there are others that are big and open.

There are expert patient groups where people with chronic conditions share coping skills.

If you want to join a group and can't find one, you could always start one.