Glossary

Bipolar Disorder: An Information Guide

Adjunct medication - medicine that complements a main medication.

Agitation - a severe inner restlessness that is often accompanied by anxiety. Patients typically cannot sit still; they may pace and wring their hands.

“Alternative” medicines - for bipolar disorder, these include “natural remedies,” such as fish oil and inosital (a kind of sugar). Little research has been done on these products.

Anti-anxiety medication - a type of adjunct medication used to treat anxiety. Examples include benzodiazepines, such as lorazepam (Ativan®) or clonazepam (Rivotril®), and some antidepressants.

Antidepressant medication - medication used to treat the symptoms of depression.

Antipsychotic medication - formerly called neuroleptic medication. These agents quickly control mania and treat psychotic symptoms. Antipsychotics can also prevent new attacks of mania.

Anxiety - excessive worry, fear and uncertainty that are hard to control. Anxiety is common in bipolar disorder.

Benzodiazepines - a group of anti-anxiety medications that share a similar chemical structure. Some common benzodiazepines are diazepam (Valium®) and lorazepam (Ativan®).

Bipolar disorder - also known as manic-depressive illness. A disorder characterized by mood swings from depression to mania.

Bipolar-I disorder - a type of bipolar disorder in which people experience full manic or mixed episodes.

Bipolar-II disorder - a type of bipolar disorder in which people experience only hypomania and depression.

Catatonic symptoms - Patients who become catatonic have trouble with movement - they may experience extreme physical agitation or slowness and odd movements or postures.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) - a type of talk therapy where patients learn to recognize their own negative or disruptive thought patterns. Patients then try to change the behaviours that result from these thoughts. CBT is beginning to be tested in the treatment of bipolar disorder, with promising early results.

Comorbid disorder - a medical condition that often accompanies, or co-occurs with, another disorder; for example, drug or alcohol abuse, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or binge eating disorder can co-occur with bipolar disorder.

Compliance - a patient’s full participation in the treatment prescribed by the physician; for example, taking medication as directed and attending therapy sessions.

Cycle - the time from the start of one episode until the start of the next.

Delusion - a false, fixed belief not shared by other people in the same culture; for example, a person may believe that his or her thoughts are controlled by outside forces. There are various types of delusions, such as paranoid (with feelings of suspicion) and grandiose (with feelings of excessive self-importance).

Depression - an episode characterized by a loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness and loss of interest in things that usually bring pleasure (food, sex, work, friends and entertainment). Patients may think often about death or suicide. Physicians diagnose depression when at least five of a group of symptoms have lasted for at least two weeks.

Dopamine - a type of neurotransmitter, or brain chemical, thought to be affected in a person with mental illness. Making dopamine more available is one way to treat depression; blocking dopamine helps treat psychosis.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) - a treatment procedure for severe depression and severe mania. ECT involves passing a controlled electric current between two metal discs applied on the surface of the scalp.

Episode - a period of illness. This can include depression, hypomania, mania or a mixed state.

Group therapy - therapy for a number of patients together. Group therapy has been used successfully to give patients support and psychoeducation.

Hallucination - a false experience involving the senses, such as seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling or feeling something that does not really exist.

Hypersomnia - the condition of sleeping too much, especially during the day. Hypersomnia can be a symptom of bipolar disorder.

Hypomania - a state characterized by a high mood and overactivity. It is not as extreme as mania.

Insomnia - the condition of not being able to fall asleep, or of waking too soon or repeatedly. Insomnia can be a symptom of bipolar disorder.

Light therapy - Light therapy is a form of treatment involving exposure to a specific type of light for 30 minutes to one hour daily, for several weeks. This light is usually provided by a special light box, and is useful for the treatment of seasonal depressions and occasionally for other types of depression.

MAOI - MAOI stands for Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor, a class of antidepressants that work by reducing the effects of the enzyme monoamine oxidase. This causes neurotransmitter levels to rise, often providing powerful relief to depression. However, these drugs have many side-effects and require a special diet.

Maintenance treatment - treatment intended to prevent a new episode (including depression, mania, hypomania).

Mania - a state characterized by an unusually high mood, irritability, overactivity, excessive talking, racing thoughts, inflated ideas of self, lack of insight, poor judgment, impulsiveness and financial extravagance.

Manic-depressive illness - see bipolar disorder above.

Mixed episode - an episode in which patients show both manic and depressive symptoms. The symptoms either occur at the same time or alternate quickly.

Mood disorder - a pattern of illness defined by disturbance of mood. Bipolar disorder is one type of mood disorder.

Mood stabilizers - medicines, such as lithium, that help reduce swings in abnormal moods. They can also help prevent fresh mood episodes.

“Natural remedies” - see “alternative” medicines above.

Neuroleptics - see antipsychotic medications above.

Neurotransmitters - chemicals that carry signals between neurons (nerve cells) in the brain. Neurotransmitters include norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine and acetylcholine.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - patients with this disorder have intrusive thoughts (obsessions) or the urge to perform irresistible repetitive acts (rituals). The performance of these neutral acts/behaviours may reduce anxiety.

Panic disorder - an anxiety disorder characterized by attacks of severe anxiety, terror or fear.

Psychoeducation - a process that allows people to recognize and learn how to manage their psychiatric illness.

Psychosis - a term once used for any mental disorder. Psychosis now refers only to disturbances that cause the personality to disintegrate and the person to lose contact with reality.

Psychotherapy - a general term used to describe a form of treatment based on talking with a therapist. Psychotherapy aims to relieve distress by discussing and expressing feelings. The goal is to help the patient change attitudes, behaviour and habits, and develop better ways of coping.

Rapid cycling - Individuals are said to be rapid cycling if they experience more than four episodes a year. Only 20 per cent of patients experience rapid cycling.

Recovery/recovery phase - the period when a person is getting over an episode of illness. The patient often feels fragile, dependent and at risk of other episodes.

Relapse - return of the symptoms of an illness after the patient has seemingly responded to treatment, but before the symptoms have fully gone.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - a class of drugs used to treat depression and related disorders. SSRIs inhibit the reuptake of serotonin (a neurotransmitter). SSRIs have revolutionized the treatment of depression since the late 1980s because they are very effective and have fewer side-effects than do older antidepressants.

Side-effects - the extra effects of a drug treatment that come with the desired effects. Usually side-effects are unwanted, and can include nausea, headaches, constipation and problems with sexual function.

Stressors - situations that cause stress.

Support group - a group of people who have a common interest or situation, such as a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, who meet regularly to share ideas, feelings and community resources information.

Tardive dyskinesia - a brain disorder in which the patient experiences involuntary, or unintended, movement of the face and jaw. Tardive dyskinesia can be a side-effect of long use of traditional antipsychotic medications.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) - a treatment involving magnetic pulses to the brain. TMS is being tested, but its effects on bipolar disorder are not proven.

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) - a class of older drugs used to treat depression and other disorders.

Trigger - a situation that can cause either mania or depression in a person who has already had an episode of illness. Stress, sleep loss, steroids and street drugs are some of the triggers for bipolar disorder.

Unipolar depression - one or more major depressive episodes, but without mania or hypomania.

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