title: Current and historical concepts of opiate treatment in psychiatric disorders.
abstract: In recent years psychiatric research has rediscovered the theoretical and clinical importance of opiates, especially for the understanding of depressive disorders. However, opiate treatment is not a new therapeutic concept in psychiatry. The use of opium for "melancholia" and "mania" may be traced to ancient classical medicine. After Paracelsus and Sydenham, the psychiatry of the German Romantic Era widely discussed therapeutic opium use with the Engelken family going on to develop a structured opium treatment of depression in the first half of the nineteenth century. Although the underlying scientific problems of psychiatric opium therapy were never solved, it gained an outstanding position as a practical treatment for over 100 years.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatrie, München, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Emrich
mesh_terms: D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000266:history*; D005060:Europe; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history*; D009294:Narcotics / Q000266:history*; D009892:Opium / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D009892:Opium