A two year prospective study of maniac disorder and its symptomatology in northern Nigeria.

A prospective study of 38 manic patients (22 males and 16 females) was carried out. The average age of males and females were 31.2 and 29.4 years respectively. About 66% were Moslems while 33% were Christians. Fifteen patients were Hausa/Fulani, the largest ethnic group in Northern Nigeria. 17 patients were illiterates and were mainly Hausa-Fulani housewives. 35 out of the 38 patients were treated as in-patients and the duration of stay ranged from 14-42 days. 32 patients were followed-up for between 6 months to about 2 years. Only 3 cases relapsed during follow-up. Hypomanic affect, the commonest symptom was found in only 71% of the cases, a finding which compares favourably with a previous study. 15 cases (8 males and 7 females) had previous histories of mainly manic illness. 8 cases had associated drug abuse mainly alcohol and hemp. There was no positive family history of mental illness. 16 cases consulted traditional or religious healers before seeking orthodox psychiatric treatment. The main neuroleptic used was chlorpromazine with an average dose of 300 mg daily. ECT was used concurrently 6 times in 10 cases. Lithium prophylaxis was not used.