Bipolar Edinburgh
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Mission Statement
Bipolar Edinburgh provides services to people affected by the mental health condition bipolar in Edinburgh and the Lothians. The charity also seeks to challenge stigma about mental health conditions, raise awareness of bipolar and contribute to the research agenda. Through this work we want people affected by bipolar to be able to live their best lives as valued members of the community. With the help of healthcare professionals and careful self-management, we believe a meaningful and enjoyable life is possible for people affected by the condition.
About This Cause
Group Peer Support: All-ages Self-help Group. Our monthly all-ages group meeting has been running continuously with the same Lead Facilitator since 2010 and welcomes family, friends and carers as well as those with lived experience of bipolar. In contrast to peer support groups run elsewhere by organisations such as Bipolar Scotland and Bipolar UK, Bipolar Edinburgh is unique in that it takes a group psychoeducational approach to meetings rather than using a support group format. This approach has been evidenced to reduce hospitalisations by increasing knowledge of the disorder and encouraging self-help skills so as to reduce relapse rates. (Jones S. et al.) Rather than sitting in a circle and sharing, our lecture-style meetings are designed to educate members on a specific facet of the illness through an invited guest speaker or else through the sharing of learned experiences through focussed group discussion. Topics covered this year have included: Activity for Wellbeing (Edinburgh Leisure); Relationships (group discussion); Welfare Benefits (Advocard); Overspending & bipolar (group discussion); The Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy Diet (Author Dr. Julie A. Fast); Sleep & bipolar (The University of Edinburgh Division of Psychiatry); Mindfulness & Ecotherapy (mindfulness practitioner); Bipolar and ADHD (Edinburgh Adult Psychiatry); Sleep Problems (group discussion); Edinburgh Crisis Centre services; Work of the Mental Welfare Commission. After the lecture and Q & A, there is an opportunity to mingle over coffee and make connections with peers. The meeting format with an average of 20 attendees in person and 8 joining on Zoom generally suits those participants who are socially confident enough to feel comfortable in larger group sizes. 2024/25: 537 total hours delivered; 307 Total attendees; 135 Unique attendees, During the year we developed an animation of our long-standing comfort agreement which is now played at the beginning of each group meeting. The comfort agreement aims to explain the rules which participants have agreed to abide by. The tone set by playing this animation has been well-received and has proven effective. https://go.bipolaredinburgh.org.uk/comfort-agreement Evaluation We aim to seek evaluations for every activity we perform, both for qualitative feedback and quantitative where we use a Net Promoter Score (NPS) question such as: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend with bipolar?” Participants score the activity out of ten stars. The average NPS score of this year's all-ages group was 9.62/10. Qualitative feedback for the all-ages group has included: “A great night chatting with friendly like-minded people.” “Welcoming, interesting session as always, thank you!” “Great to have a discussion with peers about lived experiences.” “A professional, well-run group and I look forward to joining you next month!” “The UK is incredible in the way these charities are there to support people free of charge.” “The group is crucial to me and has given me hope that I can manage to live my life with bipolar.” Details of further activities can be read in our annual reports which can be found on the "About Us" page of the website: https://www.bipolaredinburgh.org.uk/about