[Personality dynamics during prolonged lithium prevention]

The preventive lithium therapy of paroxysm-like endogenic psychoses is associated with a change in the personality responses, in particular to the patient's own mental disease which makes it possible to speak about certain personality changes that manifest themselves phenomenologically by the formation of the adequate criticism of the disease, the psychological dependence on the lithium therapy and by peculiar reduction of emotional responses. The pathogenetic treatment of the described phenomena is sophisticated and calls for the consideration of both therapy and features of the endogenous process.