The delayed diagnosis of patients with bipolar disorder is a significant problem. These Patients will necessarily receive an inappropriate therapeutic and an inadequate management.

The objective of this work is to value the delay diagnosis of the bipolar trouble, to determine the factors of risk and its impact on the evolution of the disorder and on the life of patient.

It is a retrospective study of 101bipolar patients, according to the DSM IV criteria, that have been seen in consultation or hospitalized to the psychiatric unit of Marrakech, during a period from February 1st to September 2007.

The middle age of the patients was of 29,5 years with a masculine predominance (60,4%), the patients were unmarried in 61,4% and without profession in 44,6%.

The personal antecedents of hippomania were present in 61,4%, the familial antecedents of psychiatric disorder in 55,4%.

The middle time between initial mental health diagnosis and bipolar diagnosis was 76 months with a maximum of 132 months.

The impact of the delay on the illness had been noted in 60% of the cases (length and severity of the episode, recidivisms), the suicidal risk was present at 32,7% of the patients.

The factors incriminated in the delayed diagnosis of the bipolar trouble are essentially represented by the minor or atypical shapes of mania.

The recognition of these shapes will permit a precocious diagnosis what will avoid the deleterious impact of the delay diagnosis on the evolution of the illness and the life of the patient.