A preliminary double-blind study on the efficacy of carbamazepine in prophylaxis of manic-depressive illness

A preliminary double-blind controlled study on the prophylactic effect of carbamazepine on recurrent manic-depressive psychotics was conducted with 22 patients using an inert placebo in ten subjects as a control drug. Carbamazepine in the dosage of 200–600 mg was administered for 1 year. Among the 22 carbamazepine subjects, carbamazepine was found to be effective in 60% of the cases and inert placebo in 22.2% (U-test, P<0.10). It is suggested that carbamazepine is a useful drug for the prophylaxis of manic-depressive illness.