Results from the International Group for the Study of Lithium-Treated Patients, covering 5,616 patient years, clearly showed that adequate long-term lithium treatment significantly reduced & even normalized the excess mortality of patients with affective disorders. A meta-analysis on 17,000 patients pooled from 28 studies showed that the rate of suicidal acts in 8.6 fold higher in patients without lithium as compared to those with regular lithium treatment. It is concluded lithium has to be considered as a first-line mood stabilizer in affective disorders, particularly in patients with a history of suicide attempts. (19 refs.) JA