[Clinical differentiation and classification of endogenous affective psychoses]

As many as 244 patients suffering from endogenous affective psychosis were examined by the clinico-catamnestic method. The clinical and pathogenetic heterogeneity of the given disease has been established. It manifests itself not only in the phenomenologic characteristics of the phasic affective conditions themselves but also in differences of the regularities of the disease course and prediction. Five types of the course of affective psychosis are described. It is discussed whether it is rightful to divide the disease into mono- and bipolar forms as reflecting the disease heterogeneity to the greatest degree.