People discussing their illnesses on RTE Radio One and Newstalk

Behind every such story, there is usually a family that has been carrying the burden of the illness for an extended period. They have had to deal with the strain, the effort, the worry and the horrible reality of the hand that life has dealt them. And often, they are doing so with admirable dignity and fortitude.

I heard the man speaking about his son with muscular dystrophy, and for me, what struck me was how calm and measured the man sounded given the words that he was saying. I don't know how I would look at my child if they were sick with a likely terminal condition and not want to scream my head off at the difficulty and pain of it all.

And outside of the studio for these people, there is often poor supports and the message that the lack of funding either for research or services or medications means that the people suffering will continue to do so. And so these individuals, and their families, are doing everything they can to raise awareness hoping that in doing so, their suffering may someday be reduced. Or that the next person who is diagnosed will have an easier path.

You're right there may be more of these stories on the radio now, but people know that public commentary can very much influence where funds ends up and so people must to use a horrible analogy "sing for their supper". Behind every one of this 6 minute pieces is months/years or a life time of pain and in front of them is more of the same or a shorter life expectancy than they could have hoped for. Time and again I hear these people and it makes me stop and think how small my problems are by comparison.

There is way more variety and content available on the airways today than at any point in history so I'm sure the OP will find something to their liking. Or, I've heard some mention on the wireless myself of this fancy new fandangle called podcasts I think it is that I understand allows you to listen to exactly what you want :).

Now it's not lunchtime yet I'm listening to Andrea Gilligan who is interviewing a lady about an ADHD diagnosis.

It must have been around that time I heard an ad on either RTE or Newstalk, for ADHD diagnoses for around 900 quid from a private psychiatry operation.

I think the point of the original poster is making is that too much misery turns people off turning on such radio segments entirely.

Yeah, I get that, and I'm not saying the OP is wrong, what they're giving is a subjective opinion obviously. I don't necessarily agree, but that is also just an opinion.

I remember as a child, there was no shortage of very difficult topics discussed on Gay Byrne show for example. And there was much less alternative options back then.

Some people love "MiseryFM", I had a neighbour whose highlight of the day used to be listening to da poor craters on Joe Duffy. It made her feel more content in her own life knowing the misery others were in.

This has always been the case for some reason with some people, as you say. And in the same way, people always love complaining about something instead of making choices to get their needs met elsewhere. Read any of the threads about various shows (TV and Radio) and 50% of the posts will be people complaining about the content that they still listen to or watch.

BTW, I'm not downplaying what positives can be gained by one individual highlighting their plight, but as standard programing it can lose impact.

Not sure what to say about that, who decides which cases make it to Radio to highlight their plight before everyone has switched off?

Over the last five years we've been caring for elderlies with various complaints (overall it's simply aging), but all the supports we've needed have been easily found via the internet or our local healthcare centre. I acknowledge that not everyone who needs can actually use the internet, but still that's where the action now is at, so radio is becoming despite all good intentions something of a backwater.

A concept worthy of a thread in it's own right possibly. Remember "Video Killed the Radio Star". Guess what closed down at the end of last year? MTV. There's still something about the radio I think that makes people feel they are part of a community in a way that not even podcasts do. Not sure how to describe it. And with the way the internet has gone, I think people are turning away (to some degree) or at least growing suspicious of manipulated or very conditioned content.

There was a good one on BBC Radio 4 today, The Curse. They do plenty of medical stuff, and disability issues. Always have, so there has been no increase recently.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002sf5r

That won't play on my computer, but this is the blurb below. The programme mentions that NF is the same size as England, but with only 1% of the population size. The curse in part derives from the limited gene pool in the past.

"For generations, young, seemingly healthy men were mysteriously dying on the Canadian island of Newfoundland. They dropped dead doing normal everyday things like eating dinner, walking across the beach or shovelling snow. Locally, it became known as The Newfoundland Curse and it has been terrorising families for centuries. It turns out that these families have a rare genetic heart condition called Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy, or ACM for short. If left untreated, ACM will kill 80% of the men who have it by the time they are 50 and, until recently, it was practically undetectable. In 1995, genetic counselor Dr Kathy Hodgkinson was introduced to The Curse. Determined to understand why this was happening, she made it her mission to uncover the truth with the goal of ending it once and for all."