[Antipsychotic drugs and drugs inducing psychoses].

The contributions made by various stages of psychopharmacology - i.e. pharmacotherapy of psychoses as well as experimental psychiatry - towards the understanding of the structure and nature of major psychoses are considered. The various types of antipsychotic agents (neuroleptics, antidepressants and lithium) are reviewed as well as their characteristics, classification and biochemical properties. Besides, pharmacopsychoses resulting from heavy and repeated abuse of hallucinatory and other drugs are put forward as a model worthy of further studies. This paper concludes by an appeal for a truly multidisciplinary collaboration in order for modern biologic psychiatry to progress.