[Unsolved problems in the indications for lithium prophylaxis in affective and schizoaffective disorders].

The validity of various criteria for a prophylactic lithium indication was examined by means of the natural course of 356 unipolar depressive, bipolar manic-depressive, and schizoaffective patients. The prerequisite for a lithium prophylaxis was the occurrence of two or more episodes (excluding the index episode) within a 5-year's follow-up. The so far applied criteria for a lithium indication mentioned in the literature have proven to be too restrictive as far as this study is concerned, as the majority of the patients in need of lithium have been excluded from such a treatment. In this study new criteria have been deduced from the hypothetical examination of observed courses.