DBSA?

Two weeks ago, I attended a DBSA meeting on a whim. I only live a few blocks from the meeting place, and it was a huge group. The first meeting was very positive. The small group work was fantastic. It was all women.

The second week's meeting triggered my anxiety. Did I say that the group has a huge amount of support people? About a quarter of the people are support people, and they are supposed to have their own group. The small group I was in this week was mostly men, and one support person.

Actually the support person wasn't a big problem, except she was a teenager. I was concerned about what might be brought up in her presence.

The main issue was that the men felt the need to soliloquize and take up the time. It seemed as if the goal was to show how minimally BP affects them. It was not a good time. I was getting cut off continuously, and so was the other woman in the group. After the group, the other woman came to me and told me she appreciated what I said, because I was trying to be supportive and offer my own experience in dealing with things. It was nice of her to say as I am so unsure how to be supportive without being pushy. Because of what happened, I and the only other woman in the group were not able to really participate.

I think I am going to email the main facilitator about the issue. I felt like the group was not very productive.

Has anyone else run into similar issues with DBSA or other type of support groups and how did you deal with them?

Unfortunately there is only one DBSA group in my state and it is not in my area. I know of one small group that was meeting a little over a year ago in my area but the group was discontinued. Online support is all I have.

I think it is a good idea for you to email the facilitator. Maybe she can set/review group norms. I hate it when people monopolize the conversation.