Edited by
Philip Gorwood
Michel Hamon

2006

Considerable progress has been made for the last fifty years in the treatment of psychiatric disorders thanks to the empirical discovery of the psychotropic properties of a few drugs. Actually, antipsychotics first, then antidepressants, anxiolytics and mood stabilising agents have all been discovered at the beginning of the second half of the last century, causing a true revolution in the clinical practice of psychiatrists, and the definitive recognition of psychiatry as an actual clinical discipline, with the use of effective drugs in addition to other medical interventions, as for cardiology, internal medicine, etc.