My Dad and Me - Frank Bruno's daughter BBC3 doc on his bipolar/family coping

[JimW]

Just watched it and thought it was excellent on so many levels. She (Rachel, the daughter) was a bright and interesting presenter, and there was no sense of celeb voyuerism which it could easily have slipped into. Really moving in bits, like talking to her older sister who initially had to have Frank sectioned and how that affected her/their relationship; Frank looking well and talking honestly; meets other families who've been through similar; and talks to a couple of cracking NHS doctors for some sound medical info.
ETA: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b037k6t5/Rachel_Bruno_My_Dad_and_Me/
They also had a few flashback bits around the time it all blew up and of course the Sun's disgusting reporting stood out even tho the programme didn't make a thing of it.

 

[tony.c]

Thanks Jim. I missed it. Will watch it on iplayer.

 

[weltweit]

Yes, I caught this and found it interesting especially as I have the condition. Rachel was a good presenter and I liked that she met with other sufferers and learnt their stories. I did feel for Frank Bruno though, it looks to me as if he is perhaps on slightly stronger medication than ideal as his mood seemed a bit low to me, and he was not the most erudite about his condition, her conversations with him about his bipolar were a little restricted.

One of the reasons I thought his meds might be too strong is that he seems to have stopped exercising (something he always used to do religiously) and seems to have put on weight, it was visible on his face (I have gone through that myself) often a side effect of some bipolar medications.

The psychiatrist she saw was interesting, if a bit manic himself, I think at one point he mentioned that life as a boxer, being regularly hit on the head, does not help! exactly what my psychiatrist said to me.

I think it is common for sufferers to have some time on more medication than they need or are good for them partly because when releasing you from a hospital the doctors want to be sure that you are stable, so they overdo it a bit. I know how sensitive moods are to medication, or how the brain is sensitive to chemicals, recently I reduced one of my meds by just 20% and the change in my own mood was dramatic.

eta: and marriage breakup is very common among people with manic depression.

 

[JimW]

Yes, I caught this and found it interesting especially as I have the condition. Rachel was a good presenter and I liked that she met with other sufferers and learnt their stories. I did feel for Frank Bruno though, it looks to me as if he is perhaps on slightly stronger medication than ideal as his mood seemed a bit low to me, and he was not the most erudite about his condition, her conversations with him about his bipolar were a little restricted.

One of the reasons I thought his meds might be too strong is that he seems to have stopped exercising (something he always used to do religiously) and seems to have put on weight, it was visible on his face (I have gone through that myself) often a side effect of some bipolar medications.

The psychiatrist she saw was interesting, if a bit manic himself, I think at one point he mentioned that life as a boxer, being regularly hit on the head, does not help! exactly what my psychiatrist said to me.

I think it is common for sufferers to have some time on more medication than they need or are good for them partly because when releasing you from a hospital the doctors want to be sure that you are stable, so they overdo it a bit. I know how sensitive moods are to medication, or how the brain is sensitive to chemicals, recently I reduced one of my meds by just 20% and the change in my own mood was dramatic.

eta: and marriage breakup is very common among people with manic depression.

Cheers weltweit, not very up on the condition myself so didn't spot that with Frank, said I thought he looked well based on what i recall of last time I saw him on telly.
There were loads of other little positive bits too, like the sisters going along to that self-help group and clearly getting a lot out of it, and the young lass there moved by getting thanked for what she'd done for her mum for the first time.

 

[weltweit]

... There were loads of other little positive bits too, like the sisters going along to that self-help group and clearly getting a lot out of it, and the young lass there moved by getting thanked for what she'd done for her mum for the first time.

Yes, the self help group was good. I never went to one, preferring to join online communities instead, but I think that one was very positive.

I thought it was funny when Rachel took her dad shopping and he, like millions of men before him, got rather bored as she tried on more and more stuff

Also interesting the bald white family man with bipolar who used to be a builder or something closely related. He apparently had made and then lost a fortune and thought his drive had come from his condition. I can understand that, when sufferers are up, (but not too much) there is little they cannot do.

There was a woman in hospital with me who used to sell clothes on markets, at her height she had five trucks going to various markets daily and was raking it in, but in parallel she was also having affairs all over the place and had not declared any of her income for tax purposes which eventually brought her down.

I felt sorry for that guy who had lost it all and it made me wonder about Frank. I know before he was first sectioned he had a massive gang of hangers on, many of which lived at his house, I wondered how much of his wealth Frank still had.

 

[JimW]

...
I thought it was funny when Rachel took her dad shopping and he, like millions of men before him, got rather bored as she tried on more and more stuff

...

he had some sound advice on picking running shoes for comfort, not colour, too!

 

[Reno]

I've stopped watching these BBC3 documentaries. They always are presented by attractive young women, personally involved with the issue but with no journalistic background. They look out of their depth, never ask the right questions and instead break down and weep a lot so we get the severity of the situation. It's TV journalism for the reality show audience. I gather this one was better ?

Bruno had an aimable likeable personality but I went off him when I found out he was a Tory.

 

[butchersapron]

The psychiatrist she saw was interesting, if a bit manic himself, I think at one point he mentioned that life as a boxer, being regularly hit on the head, does not help! exactly what my psychiatrist said to me.

You used to box?

 

[weltweit]

You used to box?

No, I asked my doctor what he thought about Frank Bruno's diagnosis and he said that if your life involved often getting hit on the head then mental health issues were quite likely.

 

[cyprusclean]

I watched parts of it, but Channel4's Notes from the Inside with James Rhodes caught my attention more.

 

[cyprusclean]

I think it is common for sufferers to have some time on more medication than they need or are good for them partly because when releasing you from a hospital the doctors want to be sure that you are stable, so they overdo it a bit. I know how sensitive moods are to medication, or how the brain is sensitive to chemicals, recently I reduced one of my meds by just 20% and the change in my own mood was dramatic.

eta: and marriage breakup is very common among people with manic depression.

Do you suffer from this condition? You come over as well balanced and stable to me.

 

[Schmetterling]

I watched parts of it, but Channel4's Notes from the Inside with James Rhodes caught my attention more.

Watched that too and really liked it.

 

[JimW]

I've stopped watching these BBC3 documentaries. They always are presented by attractive young women, personally involved with the issue but with no journalistic background. They look out of their depth, never ask the right questions and instead break down and weep a lot so we get the severity of the situation. It's TV journalism for the reality show audience. I gather this one was better ?

Bruno had an aimable likeable personality but I went off him when I found out he was a Tory.

You've got a fair point or two in there, actually. She's certainly very good looking and personally involved, but I thought she did actually get a lot of decent information brought forward in her interviews with the two specialists and the other two families/sufferers. So not out of her depth exactly even if not a terrier journalist either and while she did get a bit emotional here and there it wasn't one of those awful heart-string tugging efforts. hadn't realised that's a bit of a thing with BBC3 in particular but so much of the BBC documentary output has got worse recently in touchy-feely ways that I partly posted this heads up as I thought it was a refreshing change. Frank avoided saying anything Tory too!

 

[weltweit]

Do you suffer from this condition? You come over as well balanced and stable to me.

I have been on medication for it since 2004.

 

[ViolentPanda]

No, I asked my doctor what he thought about Frank Bruno's diagnosis and he said that if your life involved often getting hit on the head then mental health issues were quite likely.

It's a bit pat. I boxed (upper weight brackets) at a club for 3 years as a teen. Most of the people I knew from the club who went pro (none of 'em got anywhere!) don't have mental health issues. Sure, you're more likely as a pro boxer (sans headguard during actual fights) to sustain organic brain damage, but that doesn't necessarily manifest as "mental health issues".

 

[ViolentPanda]

Do you suffer from this condition? You come over as well balanced and stable to me.

Except when he has spates of posting 20-30 threads a day, which gets me worried he's going a bit "manic".

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Edit. Misread, so joke doesn't work.

 

[JimW]

It's a bit pat. I boxed (upper weight brackets) at a club for 3 years as a teen. Most of the people I knew from the club who went pro (none of 'em got anywhere!) don't have mental health issues. Sure, you're more likely as a pro boxer (sans headguard during actual fights) to sustain organic brain damage, but that doesn't necessarily manifest as "mental health issues".

As the doc put it, you can have a genetic propensity to bipolar disorder and then various life experiences etc can contribute to that triggering - in Frank's case the blows to the head, but also the fame, the adjustment to retirement and the drug habits he developed. he was saying it to the daughter as she was wondering if she could expect issues down the line but he said less likely as you've not had them things happen to you.

 

[weltweit]

Except when he has spates of posting 20-30 threads a day, which gets me worried he's going a bit "manic".

Oi! that is a vast exaggeration!!

 

[ViolentPanda]

Oi! that is a vast exaggeration!!

How vast?

 

[weltweit]

How vast?

I doubt, even at my most extreme, I started more than about 5-6 threads in a single day.
And I see your and raise you a and a

 

[cyprusclean]

Except when he has spates of posting 20-30 threads a day, which gets me worried he's going a bit "manic".

That's just multi-tasking.

 

[Epico]

I've stopped watching these BBC3 documentaries. They always are presented by attractive young women, personally involved with the issue but with no journalistic background. They look out of their depth, never ask the right questions and instead break down and weep a lot so we get the severity of the situation. It's TV journalism for the reality show audience. I gather this one was better ?

I do largely agree with you, but I think for BBC3's target audience they're reasonably well pitched. I see them as 'gateway' documentaries for people who may not usually watch this sort of programme at all.