The aim of the present case study was to examine electrodermal orienting response during periods of acute illness and during remission in a male schizophrenic patient. He was exposed five times to a series of moderately intense tones in a standard orienting habituation paradigm, while skin conductance was recorded. He failed to respond to any of the first two tones and was considered a nonresponder both times when he was acutely symptomatically ill. In contrast, he responded to some of the first tones when he was under treatment and both times when he was tested in remission.

Twelve outpatients with seasonal affective disorder were treated by 1-h morning bright light exposure for 5 days. The light treatment intervention produced a significant phase advance of self-rated sleepiness rhythm, a significant decrease of the mean level of subjective sleepiness, and a significant reduction of depression scores. No significant objective circadian rhythm phase shift nor amplitude changes would account for the antidepressant effect.

Two autistic patients suffering from extreme cases of self-injurious behavior received an association of a sedative neuroleptic, a β-adrenoceptor blocking agent and an opiate antagonist. Within a few weeks after introduction, self-injurious behavior ended. Both patients have been followed-up for more than two years and have not relapsed.

In an open prospective study, the antidepressive effects of the selective and reversible MAO-A inhibitor, brofaromine, were investigated in nine endogenous depressed patients, who had failed to respond to cyclic antidepressants. In three patients a clinically relevant improvement was observed, although for the total group, no statistically significant treatment effect could be demonstrated. In two subjects, postural hypotension and sleep disturbances occurred temporarily.

Two clinical observations of mianserin abuse by psychiatric out-patients are described. A previous history of substance dependence was found in both cases. Mianserin should be used with caution in predisposed patients, before further studies on the subject are carried out.