A person is not an illness or diagnosis

• It is important to use person-first language instead of diagnostic language
• Example of person-first language: a person living with mental illness or a person experiencing bipolar
• Always ask the person you are talking to what is OK with them - what would they prefer? 

(Mental Health Coordinating Council, 2012, 'Mental Health Connect: Essential Mental Health Training for GLBT people')

Definitions
Listed in alphabetical order below are a few terms used in discussion of mental health and some information about the use of each. In addition, there are some definitions used in services that support people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer.
It’s also important to note that individual people have different preferences about how language is used. Terms such as ‘consumer’, ‘mental illness’, ‘carer’ and ‘queer’ mean different things to different people. Therefore it is important to ask a person which term(s) they prefer to describe themself, their experiences and those who support them, and their preferred words should be used in discussion with them.
Discriminatory terms such as ‘schizo’, ‘psycho’, ‘faggot’, ‘loony tune’, ‘fruit loop’, ‘nutcase’, ‘crazy’ and others, apart from being dehumanising, can be unlawful according to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth) if they are used in workplaces or in the delivery of goods and services.

It is important to understand the distinction between sexuality/sexual orientation (gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, pansexual, heterosexual) and gender identity (male, female, intersex, transgender). The former describes who one is sexually attracted to; the latter the gender one identifies with. These terms are often confused, but describe distinct aspects of a person’s being.

AOD is an acronym for ‘alcohol and other drugs’.

Bisexual is a term used to describe a person who is sexually attracted to people of both sexes.

Carer
Both the Commonwealth and the NSW carer recognition Acts define a carer as ‘an individual who provides personal care, support and assistance to another individual who needs it because that other individual has a disability, medical condition (including a terminal or chronic illness) or mental illness or is frail and aged’. Both Acts stipulate that ‘an individual is not a carer in respect of care, support and assistance he or she provides as part of paid or voluntary work or as part of the requirements of study’. Therefore, paid or voluntary workers should not be referred to as carers.
However, the use of the term ‘carer’ is complex. Family members and friends who perform activities traditionally referred to as ‘caring’ seldom refer to themselves as ‘carers’. The term ‘care network’ may be preferred as these are inclusive of friends, families, neighbours and community members involved in supporting a person’s recovery.

Consumer
Mental health services adopted the term consumer to describe anyone who has used or is currently using mental health services. However, the term consumer means far more than being a user of a service (something health services often don’t recognise).
A ‘consumer’ is a person with personal lived experience of mental illness or distress who exercises freedom of choice over their mental health and wellbeing. (Watson 2009.)
Mental Health Connect Resource Pack v3 9 Copyright © MHCC
The term consumer was agreed on by approximately 300 people who had received mental health treatment at the first Alternatives Conference in Baltimore, USA in 1985. The word was seen to be empowering, as ‘consumers’ should have choices about the services they access and the right to quality service. It should be noted, however, that not everyone likes, approves of and/or adopts this term for a range of reasons.
Our Consumer Place (ourconsumerplace.com.au), a website run by consumers for consumers, contains an excellent summary of the debate about the term consumer in its resource ‘The language of consumerism’.
The word ‘consumer’ is far from perfect but it's the best we have available at the present time. (Allan Pinches, cited in Our Consumer Place).
Some people prefer to use another term such as ‘survivor’ ‘psychiatric survivor’ or ‘ex-patient’.

GLBTIQ, GLBT, LGBT are acronyms of the words Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer

Gay is a term now primarily used by homosexual men who identify their sexuality to themselves or others. It is used to refer to people and the practices and cultures associated with homosexuality in many (but not all) cultural contexts. The term gay is sometimes also used by some same sex attracted women, either in addition to or in place of the term ‘lesbian’. Men who have sex with men (msm) is a term used by epidemiologists to describe all male to male sexual behaviour irrespective of identity. It includes gay men and men who may not identify as gay or bisexual for a number of different reasons. These may be cultural or religious or the men may describe their sexuality using other terms, for example kothi, panthi, moffie, ibbi, yoos, gia, bakla.

Genderqueer (GQ) is the term for people who actively seek to transcend the system of two genders in which male and female are the only, mutually exclusive, options. Some see themselves as having no gender (agender or neutrois), some as being both at once (bi-gender or ambi-gender), or as moving in between the two (gender fluid). Some people choose not to name their gender. GQ can also, for some people, blur the lines between gender identity and sexual orientation.

Homophobia describes a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being homosexual. It presents as critical and hostile behaviour such as discrimination, derogatory language, verbal abuse and physical violence on the basis of non-heterosexual orientation.
Civil rights leader Coretta Scott King stated that "Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood." (Chicago Defender, April 1, 1998)
Heteronormativity is a term developed in 1991 to describe any of a set of norms that hold that people fall into distinct and complementary genders (man and woman) with natural roles in life. It also holds that heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation, and states that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between a man and a woman. Consequently, a ‘heteronormative’ view is one that involves alignment of biological sex, sexuality, gender identity and gender roles.

Intersex is a variety of conditions where a person is born with reproductive organs (anatomy), hormones and/or sex chromosomes (DNA) that are not exclusively male or female.
As intersex is a medical condition, people who are intersex may not be aware of their intersex status until medical complications or non-stereotypical features appear. In some cases changes in hormones can lead to an increase in physical appearance that is different to their birth sex. In other cases regular blood testing can pick up increased levels of hormones or chromosomal differences. The vast majority of people who are intersex continue to identify as male or female, regarding their intersex status as a medical condition. However, a significant portion of intersex people identify their sex as intersex or other terms.

Lesbian is a term most widely used to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality. Some women who engage in homosexual behaviour may reject the lesbian identity entirely, refusing to identify themselves as lesbian or bisexual. Lesbian, like the term “gay” is a self-selected sexual identity. Women who have sex with women (WSW) and same sex attracted women (SSAW) are terms becoming more frequently used, particularly in the area of research that define women who identify as non –heterosexual, including bisexual women and lesbians.

Mental disorder, mental distress, mental health, mental illness
The term mental health can be used in different ways: to emphasise positive mental wellbeing; to focus on the absence of mental health problems; or to indicate a system or service for the treatment of ‘mental illness’ (such as in a ‘mental health service’). The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mental health as follows:
Mental health is not just the absence of mental disorder. It is defined as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. (WHO 2007.)
Simply stated, ‘a mental illness or mental disorder is a diagnosable illness that affects a person’s thinking, emotional state and behaviour and disrupts the person’s ability to work or carry out other daily activities and engage in satisfying personal relationships’ (Kitchener, Jorm & Kelly 2010, p. 4).
Discrimination associated with mental health must be challenged, and this process includes questioning the language and labels used in reference to ‘mental illness’ and ‘mental disorders’—terms that are subject to debate. The term mental distress is used in Mental Health Connect, as this term denotes the idea that people are recovering from more than symptoms and allows for a variety of ways in which people can make sense of their experience.

Pansexual is a term which refers to the potential for sexual attraction, sexual desire, romantic love, or emotional attraction towards persons of all gender identities and biological sexes. Self-identified pansexuals may refer to themselves as gender-blind—that gender and sex are insignificant or irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others.
"I felt that it wasn’t just males or females I was attracted to - I felt there must be a third gender, or even no gender, and that I would be attracted to these people too. It was when I read about pansexuality that I realised that this is who I am" (Hillier et al, 2010, p 21).

Queer is a term that includes a range of alternate sexualities and gender identities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. However not all GLBT people would find this term appropriate or choose to be identified as queer, stemming from its historical use as a derogatory slur.

Recovery
There is no single definition of recovery in the context of mental distress. This is partly due to the fact there are two very different understandings of recovery: clinical recovery and personal (or social) recovery. Mental Health Connect focuses on personal recovery which is defined by the individual’s own understanding about what recovery means to them.

Recovery-oriented practice is the practice of working with a consumer to support their personal recovery.

Sistergirls is a term used in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to describe biological males who are effeminate, or who live as women and see themselves as akin to women. sistergirls perform many of the roles of women in the community. Their sexual partners are mainly straight men and they take a usually passive role in sexual activities. Most sistergirls are respected within their home communities. Not all sistergirls dress as women. Those sistergirls who live and dress as women and/or are post-operative are considered to be women by their community. Not all sistergirls undergo sex-reassignment surgery.

SSA is an acronym of ‘same-sex attracted’. It is used to describe people who recognise they are attracted to members of the same sex but who may not have acted on this attraction or may not identify with identity categories such as ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’. It is most often used to describe young people who are in the process of coming to terms with their sexuality, and who may not yet be sexually active.

A transgender person is someone whose inherent sense of their gender identity does not match with their biological sex (usually assigned at birth). The word transgender has come to be used as an umbrella term to embrace a collective of other words or identifiers that people use to describe their expression of gender. It is important to note that not all people who would be encompassed by the term would describe themselves as transgender.

Transgender has nothing to do with sexuality, that is, whether a person is gay/lesbian or straight. The sexual orientation of transgender people may be towards men, women or both, or they may have no sexual interest at all.

Transitioning describes the process of transgender people recognising their true gender identity and making steps to adopt the lifestyle and/or physical characteristics of the gender that they identify with. Transitioning can take anywhere between several months and several years and may or may not involve undertaking hormone therapy and/or sex-reassignment surgery.
Transitioning is a complex process that may include, but is not limited to; physical, psychological, social, and emotional changes to any or all of the gendered aspects of a person's life, a list of possible changes is set out below. This list is not exhaustive but merely an indication of some of the changes a person may or may not undertake:
 Gender role changes
 Legal and/or social name change consistent with gender identity
 Asking others to use a set of pronouns different from before
 Legal gender changed on driver's license, ID, birth certificate, etc.
 Altering clothing and other worn objects to better represent gender identity
 Adopting mannerisms consistent with new gender
 Change of voice pitch and/or vocal resonance
 Change of religious, philosophical and/or political beliefs
 Change of orientation (for example, from gay man to straight woman)
 Hormone therapy
 Surgery
A degree of experimentation is necessary to identify which changes best fit and it is important for people to be supportive, accepting and non-judgmental while a transgender person is in the process of transitioning.
Transphobia a fear, hatred or expression of negative opinion about or towards an individual or group who do not conform to, or who transgress societal gender expectations and norms, particularly individuals whose lived gender identity or gender expression differs from the gender assigned to them at birth.