["Alternative psychosis" illustrated by a clinical case].
We introduce here the "alternative psychosis" concept through the case of a 27 years old man, epileptic without psychiatrical background, who presented an acute 2 weeks long psychotical episode. We also call to mind the linkage, first described during the last century between epileptical disease and schizophrenic-like reactions. In 1934, Von Meduna noticed several times an improvement of patients affected by comitial crisis, when treating them by convulsive treatment. He was then the first to introduce the use of convulsive treatment for schizophrenic psychosis. In 1953, Landolt described the "forced normalisation" which is an improvement of the EEG recording of epileptical patients during psychotical episodes. Later on, Tellenbach introduced the term of "alternative psychosis", wishing thereby to insist on the clinical missing of epileptical crisis during those acute psychotical episodes, he also sharpens their symptomatical description.