Reviewing the development of concepts of 'atypical' psychoses in European countries and in the United States shows that there are various terminologies which are given to a group of psychoses unclassifiable within Kraepelinian dichotomy. Bouffée délirante (French school), cycloid psychoses (Leonhard, Perris), reactive psychoses (Scandinavian school) and acute schizoaffective psychoses (Kasanin)...