[Psychiatric disorders and their effects on mortality and morbidity]

Psychiatric disorders themselves--and not only the known psychotropic agents--lead to enhanced psychic and somatic morbidity, and not only as a so-called psychic reaction. Psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia are diseases with a high prevalence and incidence in most countries, and they are life-threatening because they induce--besides suicidality--also many somatic diseases such as coronary arte- riosclerotic syndrome and diabetes. As a result, they have an--often indirect--effect on mortality. In the future, studies should give greater attention to the underlying neurobiological mechanisms. True "psychosomatic medicine" consists of determining the combined biological effect of psychic and somatic factors and their interactions in greater detail.