[Characteristics of the clinical picture and of neuromediator metabolism in reactive depression].

The so-called "pure" depressive states in the structure of psychogenic diseases occur less frequently nowadays. Therefore, the pathomorphosis of mental disorders which has been observed recently in clinical manifestations of different mental diseases complicates the differential diagnosis. To obviate this difficulty one of the most important diagnostic methods, namely measurement of the blood levels of neuromediators (noradrenaline, acetylcholine) in patients with reactive depression was used to study the neuromediator metabolism which is most closely related to changes in the emotional sphere. This is of great significance for the understanding of mechanisms of the formation of the clinical pattern of various depressive states and approaches to the disease diagnosis. These characteristics may be of use in selecting the mode of therapy.