Supporting relatives and friends - personality disorder network

A series of blogs for #CarersWeek

Personality disorder network

Alice, Jim and Lorna are all involved in the LYPFT personality disorder network. Usually the network provides two ways of supporting relatives and friends:

Cygnus

Cygnus is a 6 week psycho-educational programme providing learning about personality disorder and peer support. It usually runs 3 times per year and is a closed group for up to 10 people.  It is co-facilitated by a carer consultant (e.g. Alice or Lorna) and a member of staff from the Personality Disorder Service.

Andromeda

Andromeda is a bi-monthly peer support group hosted by Carers Leeds and Dr Ruth Sutherland from LYPFT. It is for anyone who supports someone affected by personality disorder.

 

When the lockdown period started, both Andromeda and Cygnus had to stop, but Alice, Jim and Lorna wanted to continue to provide peer support, and with the support of Ruth they started monthly online meetings. The first part of each meeting has a topic to provide a structure and talking point, with the second half open for wider discussion. They are still learning how best to manage the challenges of having virtual meetings and miss being able to meet up in the pub afterwards as they used to do!

Two online meetings have happened so far. The first, attended by 6 people, had the topic of managing your own wellbeing. The second, attended by 9 people, discussed what people thought about the term ‘carer’ and the impact this had on their relationship with their friend or relative. The third meeting planned for later in June will focus on ‘a day on the life’- good or bad.

Lorna said: “Although it’s still early days, people have found the meetings positive, as people have missed the opportunity to get together with others. It’s good to have peer support and empathy from others who are in similar situations, we don’t have to explain our feelings. People share positive as well as difficult experiences, it’s a difficult time and there is a lot on people’s minds but it’s good to share that not everything has been bad”.

Alice has found that “sometimes life has been calmer and things have slowed down, which makes it easier to cope with. The good thing about meeting with the group is that we don’t have to explain things to each other, we have a shared understanding of how things are”.

Jim reflected: “Having a place ‘to go’ for 1.5 hours each month away from his partner has been helpful. It’s been challenging to find a place at home to speak openly but I have been sitting in the garden to join the meeting”.

The online meetings will continue for the time being, and if you want to find out more contact Dr Ruth Sutherland, ruthsutherland1@nhs.net.