[Favorable, unfavorable and indifferent side effects of pharmacotherapy of psychoses].

Not all side-effects are undesirable side-effects of a treatment. Under certain conditions allergic side-effects during the therapy of phasic psychotics affect a turn in the course of the basic illness and bring a premature end to depression. As a result of the observation of a sudden cure of a deep vital depression in a 73 year old patient in direct chronological connection with the appearance of an allergic urticaria, studies were carried out, in the 8 years following, of a total of 18 cases of similar circumstances; during the treatment of an endogenous depression the development of intercurrent allergic skin reactions showed: in 6 cases the psychosis completely disappeared with the development of the urticaria; in 8 cases the symptoms were considerably relieved so that only the remains of vegetative disorders persisted; in 4 cases no effect could be determined. In 2 cases the same allergic reaction was consciously provoked by a reapplication of the medicaments concerned during a following depressive phase; again with favourable results since under these conditions coincidences are not very probable, the conclusion can be made, and experimentally supported, that allergic drug reactions may be employed in the course of depressions, with careful avoidance of complications.