The longitudinal course of recurrent affective illness: Life chart data from research patients at the NIMH

Using data gathered in a naturalistic study of 95 research patients at the NIMH, a retrospective method of documenting the life course of recurrent affective illness is presented, along with a partial prospective validation of this method. In these patients, the severity, frequency, and duration of manic and depressive episodes, as well as their pattern and distribution, are characterized. These variables are examined in different patients...