[Psychotropic drugs--real progress or danger? (author's transl)].

Three types of modern psychotropic drugs strongly influenced the practice of psychiatric therapy during the past 25 years: Minor tranquilizers, Antidepressants, and Neuroleptics. 1. From the clinical point of view the effects of tranquilizers are more unspecific as compared to those of neuroleptic and antidepressant drugs. Only with the latter two it is possible to treat manifestations of endogenous psychoses (schizophrenic and affective psychoses). The appraisal of both, the advantages (e.g. effectiveness on the symptomatology of acute psychotic manifestations or prophylactic effect in longtime application) and the risks (e.g. side-effects) have to be the basis of treatment of each single patient. 2. The recovery of biochemical mechanisms of neuroleptic and antidepressant drugs (especially of the effects on biogenic amines in CNS) is the most important advance in clearing up the biochemical disturbances in endogenous psychoses.