Fig. 3

Patient pathways and diagnostic delays. The figure shows four patient pathways. Patient pathway #1 includes patients who entered the mental healthcare system in outpatient care and were later hospitalized with mental healthcare problems. Patient pathway #2 includes patients with outpatient visits only prior to their first F31 diagnosis. Patient pathway #3 encompasses patients who were first hospitalized with mental health problems and later appeared in psychiatric or addictology outpatient care. Patient pathway #4 includes patiehts who were diagnosed with bipolar disorder in inpatient care without ever consulting a specialist in outpatient care