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In 320 patients with established bipolar I disorder, we examined the past course on the basis of polarity at onset (depressive, mixed, and manic). Despite the obvious limitations of retrospective methodology, information on course parameters in a large sample of affective disorders is most practically obtained by such methodology. We believe that our systematic interview of patients and their relatives-as well as the systematic study of their records-minimized potential biases. Depressive onsets were the most common, accounting for 50%, followed by mixed and manic onsets in about equal proportion. In general, the polarity of episodes over time reflected polarity at onset. Those with depressive onset had significantly higher levels of rapid cycling, as well as suicide attempts, but were significantly less likely to develop psychotic symptoms. Mixed onsets, too, had high rates of suicide attempts, but differed from …