Longitudinal statistics of mental health care in Germany.

In 1975, an expert committee was commissioned by the government to evaluate psychiatric care in the Federal Republic of Germany. The results of this study showed that Germany lacked the infrastructure to provide appropriate care for the mentally ill. Since then, measures have been taken to improve in-patient, out-patient and non-hospital care. However, in spite of these efforts, problems still exist. A closer analysis revealed that, though state mental hospitals have consolidated their position in in-patient care, there are still few psychiatric departments in general hospitals. Also, there are extreme regional differences regarding non-hospital care as seen by the varying number of long-term inpatients in each region. Out-patient care, especially for the chronically mentally ill, is also widely criticized. However, the biggest problem remains that of financing psychiatric care. Because most mentally ill persons are not properly insured and depend on social welfare, the burden falls on the government. In addition to this, efforts to modernize the antiquated mental health care system in the former East Germany are especially costly. In the future, a larger part of the available resources will go to providing community-based care in East Germany, which was nonexistent before unification.