Words by Smiley Team
Since her teenage years, Bronwen Barber has had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), a common condition largely triggered by stress that negatively impacts the digestive system. To mark IBS Awareness Month, we spoke to her about the support groups she leads for the IBS Network, a charity offering practical advice and emotional support to people with the condition.
Primarily Bronwen’s groups offer a message of hope to those with the condition, that it is possible to tackle the symptoms and improve their lives.
She said: “I always try to be positive because without hope it does make a bad situation worse.”
Bronwen first set up her local group in Barnsley after attending an IBS Network open day of informative stalls and speakers. For the first time, she had the opportunity to meet many other people with the condition and it so impressed upon her that she decided to volunteer as an IBS Network support group leader.
After attending a training day with the network in Sheffield, she received a sum of money to help set up the group, found a venue in central Barnsley and set about distributing leaflets to all the GP surgeries in the area.
At each session, attendees get the chance to chat and share advice on coping with the symptoms of IBS as well as ways of minimising its impact on their lives through treatments like the Fodmap diet. This involves eliminating foods from your diet that worsen the symptoms of IBS, before slowly reintroducing those foods.
Most of all, Bronwen’s support groups offer people with the condition a chance to share with others. She explained: “The problem with IBS is that it’s an embarrassing condition so people can feel quite isolated and that they’re the only ones who have the condition. So more than anything else it’s a means of feeling that you’re not alone.”
Bronwen is not alone in leading the support groups either. From London to Liverpool, there is a collection of IBS Network support groups available across the country. Find a group near you here.
If the network does not offer a group in your area yet find out how you can set one up here.
Help more people enjoy their lives despite this debilitating condition by donating to the IBS Network.
