Support Group for Unipolar Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Support Group
We currently are not meeting in person. However, we ARE meeting online the first and third Tuesday evening of each month at 7 pm until about 9 pm except for Christmas (Eve and Day), New Year's (Eve and Day), and Independence Day. Request an invitation by sending us an email. Our telephone number is (650) 299-8880 (leave a message) or contact us by email (preferred) at info@dbsasanmateo.org.
Please note that we are a Support Group and not a therapy group. Support is an important adjunct to talk therapy but is not a substitute for it nor is it a substitute for medication that may be needed.
IMPORTANT: If you are feeling suicidal or in a situation where you might hurt yourself or others, CALL 911. The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline telephone number is 988 or https://988lifeline.org/chat/ by online chat.
How we run our Support Group
Meetings are free (voluntary donations are encouraged but not required). The primary rule is absolute confidentiality. What is said in our group stays in our group. Meetings are generally on the intimate side -- about 7-15 people -- and we make sure that everyone has a turn to talk. We introduce ourselves by first name, diagnosis, and what medications and/or therapy we are using. After that, we are interested mostly in how you are doing. We make sure everyone has a turn that is at least 5 minutes and frequently longer to share. We value supportive interactions and have found that exchanging experience can be helpful in achieving wellness.
Who attends
We welcome all who come -- including those with additional diagnoses such as anxiety, substance abuse and PTSD (all are relatively common) -- as well as support persons (relatives, friends). We have had attendees from a wide variety of ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds, as well as sexual orientations.
If you would like to be on our email invitation list, please send us an email at info@dbsasanmateo.org.