A review of New South Wales court documents from 1992 to 2008 found that only 12 of 272 people found not guilty by reason of mental illness were in a manic state at the time of the offense. Ten were diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder (three of them in a depressed phase) and two with bipolar disorder. The authors conclude that mania, in particular the manic phase of bipolar disorder, is not strongly associated with severe violence. Results appear in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.
