A PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF SUBSTANCE-INDUCED PSYCHOSES IN A SAMPLEOF SPANISH PATIENTS

The objective of this paper was to verify if a specific psychopatholog ical profile for toxic psychoses exists. A total of 120 Spanish psycho tic patients classified into three different groups were studied: toxi c, schizophrenic and brief reactive psychoses, with 40 patients each. A control group of 40 normal subjects was also included. A subjective and objective approach were used by means of the Frankfurt Complaint Q uestionnaire (FBF) by Sullwold, which collects the subjective experien ce and basic symptoms of psychoses, and the well-known AMDP system, fo r the classical symptomatology. Results obtained with both instruments , as well as patients' toxic habits, are described in detail. It is co ncluded that: (1) Subjective and objective approaches are both valuabl e methods to study psychotic patients. (2) When considering classical and basic symptoms, no specific psychopathological profile for toxic p sychoses was found. (3) Our data do not support the validity of the co ncept of substance-induced or toxic psychoses.