Men's experiences of living with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring men's experiences of living with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder
IRAS ID
173023
Contact name
Beki Lenton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Coventry University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
Gender differences have been shown in the way men and women experience Bipolar Disorder however men have been under-represented in the literature suggesting that it would be valuable to explore this further from the perspective of men. Further to this, literature suggests that some men have shown to be less likely to seek help from services and professionals than women, that some men do not consider mental health problems a socially acceptable issue to have and that specific support for men is lacking. It is estimated that people with Bipolar Disorder are 15 times more likely than the general population to be at risk of suicide.
This study aims to explore men's experiences of living with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. More specifically it will address the following three questions: 1) How have men experienced receiving a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder? 2) What are men’s experiences of any treatment or support? 3) How are men subsequently managing everyday life living with Bipolar Disorder?
This research will help to identify whether mental health services are meeting men’s needs after a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and whether there are potentially ways of improving and maintaining engagement with men in services. It will enable an in-depth understanding, promoting the importance of a person-centred approach. This will be a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 6-8 men who have a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and interviews will last up to 90 minutes long. Participants will be recruited through clinicians in local NHS mental health teams and interviews will be transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers and Larkin, 2009) to produce themes.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/WM/0305
Date of REC Opinion
10 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion