ABSTRACT
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Psychopharmacology – the study of medicines with effects on brain functions – is both an old subject and a new topic. Humans have exploited mind-altering substances for thousands of years, and ancient texts have numerous references to these drugs. But in the past 50 years, dating from the discovery and introduction of the antipsychotics, antidepressants, lithium and anxiolytics, psychiatry has benefited from the discovery of numerous psychotropic substances. Continuity has been maintained between the old and the new as many of these substances date back thousands of years but are still in use, alcohol and opium derivates being prime examples.
