[Epileptic psychoses and their drug treatment]

This paper is concerned with classification, clinical-electroencephalographic correlation, principles of treatment, and pharmaceutic therapy of epileptic psychoses. Based on the system of the physically founded reversible psychoses, classification of epileptic psychoses is developed, which is easy to apply for clinical and research purposes. Its principles are the criteria of disturbance of consciousness and of connexion to epileptic seizures. Epileptic psychoses without disturbance of consciousness frequently go along with a forced normalization of epileptic EEG-changes. This clinical-electroencephalographic correlation is documented by the cases of a depressive-paranoid and a cenesthetic alternative-psychosis. Epileptic psychoses connected to seizures, going along with disturbances of consciousness, however, show, without any exception, a pathological changed EEG. Also in the cases of the often iatrogenically produced epileptic psychoses with disturbances of consciousness yet not connected to seizures, the EEG-results are of decisive diagnostic importance. Each of these three clinical-electroencephalographically defined groups of psychoses calls for concentration on particular pathogenetical aspects concerning a specific pharmaceutic therapy. The respective principles of treatment are developed in subtly differentiated ways and they are provided with suggestion as to medicamental treatment. Schizophrenia-like epileptic psychoses are a model for idiopathic schizophrenias and so important perspective opens up for research.