PSYCHODYNAMIC PHARMACOLOGY OF THE TREATMENT OF ASTHMA

Abstract

Corticotropin (ACTH), cortisone, and related substances are now generally used in the treatment of the allergic state. Because of their striking effects on the psyche,¹ it appears desirable to recall that not only these substances but also other drugs in common use produce emotional changes in the allergic patient. It becomes more incumbent on the general physician, therefore, to become acquainted with the adaptive mechanisms of the personality structure of the asthmatic patient. In this way the pharmacologic response to therapeutic agents may be interpreted and often predicted in terms of the emotional state of the patient. If cases of obvious chemical and physical causation are omitted, the cause of bronchial asthma is basically immunologic in nature. However, the intensity and persistence of asthma is maintained in an appreciable number of patients because of the presence of unconscious conflicts that lead to difficulties in the conscious, realistic realm of