
Bipolar jargon explained
Confused by research terminology? Our jargon-busting guide breaks down complex bipolar research terms into clear, accessible language to help you stay informed and engaged.
Advance Choice Documents: Written plans where people state their mental health treatment preferences for future care, especially during crisis. Find more details here
Antidepressants: Medications that aim to lift mood and ease symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Antipsychotics: Medicines used to help reduce symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, or severe agitation.
Benzodiazepines (Benzos): Medicines that help reduce anxiety or help with sleep.
Biopsychosocial Model: A way of understanding health and illness by looking at how biological, psychological, and social factors all interact.
Coproduction: Also known as ‘lived-experience involvement’ this is about making sure people who have personal experience of mental health challenges are involved in designing and/or delivering services.
Demographics: Basic information about a group of people, such as age, gender, ethnicity, or income, often used in research or service planning.
Depot Injection: A long-acting injection of medicine that slowly releases into the body over time.
Dissemination: Sharing research findings or information with the public, professionals, or policy makers in clear and useful ways.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): A medical treatment that uses small electric currents to the brain to treat severe depression or other conditions when other treatments haven’t worked.
Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM): Making healthcare decisions based on the best available scientific evidence.
Genetics/Genomics: The study of how traits and risks for diseases, including mental illnesses, are passed down through genes.
Hypnotics: Medications used to help people fall or stay asleep.
LEAP: A Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) is a group of people who share their personal experiences with a particular issue - like mental health or disability - to help guide and improve policies, services or research.
Medical Model / Biomedical: A way of looking at mental illness mainly as a biological or physical problem that can be treated medically.
Metabolic Psychiatry: A field exploring how changes in body metabolism (like blood sugar or weight) relate to mental health.
Mixed Episodes: Times when someone living with bipolar experiences both symptoms of depression and mania at the same time.
Mixed-Method Research: A way of doing research that combines both qualitative and quantitative research.
Mood Stabilisers: Medications that help keep mood swings, especially in bipolar disorder, more balanced.
Neuromodulation: Techniques that change brain activity using electrical or magnetic stimulation to improve symptoms.
Neuroscience/Neuropsychiatry: The study of how the brain works and how it relates to thoughts, emotions, and mental health conditions.
Oral: Medications taken by mouth, usually in tablet or liquid form.
Peer-Review: A process where other experts check research for quality before it's published.
Pharmacology/Psychopharmacology: The use of medications to treat mental health conditions.
PRN (Pro Re Nata): Medication taken only when needed, rather than on a regular timetable.
Primary Care: The first point of contact in the health system, like GPs or family doctors.
Psychological Therapies: Talking therapies like counselling or CBT that help people manage mental health challenges.
Qualitative Research: A way of doing research using interviews and stories.
Quantitative Research: A way of doing research using numbers and statistics.
Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs): A type of study where people are randomly assigned to different treatments to see what works best.
Reference: A source - like a book, article or study - researchers mention in their work to show where their facts, information and ideas came from.
Secondary Care: Specialist services a GP can refer you to, such as a psychiatrist or hospital.
Service User: Also know as a PwLE (person with lived experience), a patient or a consumer, these are different terms to describe someone who is getting or who has had experience of mental health care.
Social Determinants/Social Psychiatry Models: Approaches that focus on how things like housing, income and relationships affect mental health.
Systematic Reviews: Summaries of many studies that look at all the evidence on a topic to draw stronger conclusions.
Tertiary Care: Highly specialised care - for example, in-patient care in a psychiatric unit.
Tranquilisers: Medications that calm or reduce anxiety, including drugs like benzos and some antipsychotics.