Living With Bipolar Disorder: David Harper

09/11/23 • 45 min

David Harper is a broadcaster from the UK, working with networks like the BBC World Service. In fact, his voice can often be heard reading news live to millions of people around the world. He also covers a wide range of stories for other TV and radio networks in the UK. He has a passion for what he does!
But his job can be very demanding and high-pressured at times, and being a freelancer the work can be unstable. But what makes David's situation a bit more difficult, is that he suffers from Bipolar Disorder. He kept his condition a secret for many years, fearing what others would think, and the possibility of losing work as looking unstable. But recently he uploaded a video to X (formerly Twitter) where he talked about his diagnoses and how that affected his life.

In this podcast, David tells me about what it's like living with extreme lows, and manic highs, and how it affects his life every day. He also talks openly about the problems bipolar disorder can have on his family and friends, and those closest to him. We discuss the medication he has tried, and what he says eventually worked for him in terms of coping with it.

instagram.com/colmflynnire

instagram.com/colmflynnire

Previous Episode

Inside the Mind of Baby Killer Lucy Letby: A Criminal Psychologist Explains

The name Lucy Letby has now become a name associated with pure evil. The story that has shocked and horrified England, and people all over the world is something you wouldn’t find in even the worst horror movies. A young nurse murdering tiny babies while working in the neonatal unit of a UK hospital. Instead of caring for the most vulnerable, she was injecting them with air, milk, and insulin.. And in one case, even inserting a sharp instrument into a baby’s throat to try and make it bleed to death.... But yet, a UK court has just ruled that this is exactly what Lucy Letby did between 2015 and 2015 when she was just 25 years old. She killed infant babies while on duty and then pretend to the heartbroken parents that she had done everything she could to try and save their child. In some cases she even look up the parents on facebook after, and wrote messages of sympathy to them.
We now know the where, when, and how of these horrific crimes, but we do not know the why. Dr. David Holmes is one of the UK's leading criminal psychologist and joins Colm Flynn on this podcast to try and give an insight into the mind of someone like Lucy Letby, and why someone with psychopathic tendencies can be driven to do acts of pure evil. They also discuss the public's fascination with the case, and serial killers in general, and whether or not people like Lucy Letby should be named in public, given the attention their narcissistic personality so badly craves, or if they should be simply ignored and left to die in prison.

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Next Episode

Filming The War in Ukraine: Finn Boylan

Finn Boylan is an Irish filmmaker from Bray in Co. Wicklow. He has always had a strong interest in the history of wars and conflicts around the world, feeling a fascination with places of unrest. When the war broke out in Ukraine in 2022 he had just started filmmaking and felt a strong urge that he had to travel to Ukraine and capture what was happening. Finn realised history was being made and he wanted to play his part. But nothing could have prepared him for what he would witness over the next five months as his camera brought him right into the middle of the tragedy that was unfolding. The footage he captured is real, is raw, and tells the story of a country fighting to survive amidst such heartache and devastation. Now, for the first time in an extended interview, the man behind the camera, Finn Boylan, tells his story.

instagram.com/colmflynnire