The ombudsman: a serendipitous mental health intervention.

It is proposed that the ombudsman program, originally conceived of as a protection of the political rights of individual citizens, can be profitably viewed as a primary prevention of psychological disorders. The ombudsman attempts to alleviate reality problems prior to the onset of psychological disruption by engaging in active change agentry in public and private bureaucracies. Two hundred randomly selected written complaints were analyzed to ascertain the types of problems brought to this program. The role of the mental health professional and training issues are briefly discussed.