The clinical characteristics of DSM‐IV bipolar I and II disorders: baseline findings from the Jorvi Bipolar Study (JoBS)

Abstract

Even in psychiatric settings, bipolar disorders usually go undetected, or recognized only after a long delay. A significant proportion of not only bipolar II, but also bipolar I patients are never hospitalized. Polyphasic episodes and rapid cycling are prevalent in both types. Depressive mixed states are at least as common among bipolar II patients as mixed episodes among bipolar I.