Manic-depressive illness among poor urban blacks

In psychiatric epidemiology it has generally been accepted that manic-depressive illness rarely occurs among blacks and lower socioeconomic groups. The authors conducted a retrospective study to examine the frequency of manic-depressive illness among lower income urban blacks admitted to an acute psychiatric inpatient unit of an urban hospital. The medical records of a random sample of 117 black psychiatric patients were reviewed for determination of manic-depressive illness as well as socioeconomic characteristics. Eighteen subjects (15%) were diagnosed as manic-depressive. The authors present possible explanations for this finding and the ramifications for future investigations.