ABSTRACT
There is no longer any doubt that psychosis is a disorder of the brain and central nervous system, and it cannot be long before studies with animal models make the exact nature of this disorder known. Animal studies have shown that consequences are powerful determinants of behaviour, and it is in this sense that psychotic behaviours are functional, not organic, abnormalities. Animal models have contributed most to paediatrics, relapse into drugs, readdiction and patient care in hospitals. With alcoholism and drug addiction, advances through animal studies have occurred in at least two major areas – animal models of self-administration, and animal models of relapse and readdiction. The contribution of animal models to prevention in psychiatry is the non-medical care of patients in institutions. Numerous literate individuals have recorded their sufferings in hospitals for mental disorders without notable effect in practice.
