Bipolar Depression—A Comparative Study of Patient Characteristics
H. KEITH H. BRODIE M.D.1, and
MELITTA J. LEFF M.S.S.
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.
The authors report their comparison of socioenvironmental, familial, and genetic characteristics in matched groups of bipolar (manic-depressive) and unipolar patients. While affective illness was present in a majority of the families of both groups, bipolar illness appeared only in the families of bipolar patients, suggesting a familial or genetic source for this disease. Parental deprivation and marital failure rates were significantly higher in the bipolar group.
