[A difficult stabilisation. Chlorpromazine in the fifties in Belgium]

Gesnerus. 2010;67(1):57-72.
[Article in French]

Abstract

Through a Belgian case study the article tries to trace the gradual stabilisation of chlorpromazine as an antipsychotic in the 1950s. By varying ranges and angles of approach it shows the heterogeneity of actors involved and the semantic bricolage that accompany the marketing of the first antipsychotic. Far from being a revolution, the presence of Largactil in psychiatric practice is rather characterised by integration into a wider range of medicines and sinuous searching to give sense to this new drug.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Antipsychotic Agents / history*
  • Belgium
  • Chlorpromazine / history*
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Psychiatry / history*

Substances

  • Antipsychotic Agents
  • Chlorpromazine