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Abstract

Differences in incidence of suicide attempts during phases of bipolar I and II disorders With a lifetime risk of a non-fatal suicide attempt ranging from 25% to 56% (1-3), patients with bipolar disorder (BD) are at higher risk for suicide attempts than are patients with any other Axis I disorder (4). While information on risk factors for suicidal behavior is accumulating (5), a major problem for research in this area is the lack of studies relating suicidal behavior to the most pathognomonic feature of the disorder: the recurrent and pleomorphic course. The long-term course of BD is chronic and dominated by depressive symptoms (6-8). In two recent prospective studies, suicidal behavior was related to depressive aspects of the illness (9, 10). Marangell et al. (9) found that history of suicide attempts and percentage of days spent depressed in the year prior to the participantsÕ entry into the Valtonen HM, Suominen K, Haukka J, Mantere O, Leppa¨ma¨kiLeppa¨ma¨Leppa¨ma¨ki S, Arvilommi P, Isometsa¨ETIsometsa¨ET. Differences in incidence of suicide attempts during phases of bipolar I and II disorders. Bipolar Disord 2008: 10: 588-596. ª 2008 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2008 Blackwell Munksgaard Background: Differences in the incidence of suicide attempts during various phases of bipolar disorder (BD), or the relative importance of static versus time-varying risk factors for overall risk for suicide attempts, are unknown.