90

This paper contributes to the study of psychiatry’s contemporary transformations by analyzing the structure and form of the scientific literature in the field psychopharmacology. It highlights three main periods: (1) the “golden age” of the major discoveries (lithium, chlorpromazine, imipramine), which are reported through case-by-case clinical descriptions; (2) the emergence of the randomized controlled trial and the growing importance of a strict methodology attempting to avoid the uncertainty and biases of the clinical work; (3) the recent years, characterized by a competition between similar molecules, the development of meta-analytical methods and a growing opacity of the published literature for the clinician-reader. This contribution is part of a wider historical epistemology of clinical practice.