[An epidemiologic approach to psychoses]

This study is an epidemiological approach of psychoses based on morbidity statistics from french psyschiatric hospitals for the years 1968, 1971 and 1975. It compares some of the most interesting census and first admission data for the following categories: manic-depressive psychoses, chronic schizophrenia and paranoid states on the one hand, neurotic conditions, personality disorders and non-psychotic depressions on the other. Major trends are analysed. Two of them seem particularly interesting: 1) the decreasing number of cases classified as manic-depressive psychoses; 2) the diminishing proportion of females in most instances. Some explanatory hypotheses are suggested.