ear Colleagues,In ancient times,grand mal epileptic seizures took on a sacred aspect;the patient fell deeplyunconscious and there was an episode of abnormal movement.This state often followed a setof prodromal symptoms,and the subsequent return to the conscious state involved,after an appar-ent death, a return to a living state, accompanied by residual symptoms that gradually resolved.Faced with this state that appeared to be half-way between life and death, the spectatorwas convinced of having communed with the gods.The epileptic patient was thus thought to havedivine capacities or healing powers.This only serves to demonstrate the close ties between theneurologic and psychiatric aspects of this disorder.We are thus looking at a pathology that forms a bridge between these two disciplines.This concept is addressed in the contents of this issue on “Epilepsy and Pyschiatry,”in whichcurrent thinking regarding the brain, neuronal plasticity, genetics, mood disorders, cortical devel-opment disorders, pregnancy, neurosurgery, and electroconvulsive therapy is expounded.One particularly important issue is the use of anticonvulsants in a psychiatric context:• The anticonvulsant indication: certain drugs, particularly neuroleptics, lower the epilep-togenic threshold;• The mood-restoring effects: one cannot emphasize enough the frequency of phasic dis-orders in psychiatry (manic-depressive psychosis, recurrent endogenous depression,schizoaffective disorder, etc); the prescription of an anticonvulsant can have not only acurative effect, but also a preventive affect against recurrences.We felt that it was important to publish an update on this pathology in which our two spe-cialties meet. Deborah Morris-Rosendahl and Margret Hoehe kindly agreed to coordinate thisissue, for which I would like to thank them, and I would also like to extend my warm thanks tothe various authors who have enriched the subject with their expertise.Sincerely yours,Jean-Paul Macher, MDE d i t o r i a lD
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