Trends in American mental health

Abstract

Using the data collected by Hollingshead and Redlich in 1950 and their own recent data, the authors describe trends in the mental health field over a 25-year period. They found a marked increase in admissions and readmissions to inpatient facilities and a significant decrease in the average length of stay; a considerable increase in outpatient treatment services; a shift in major diagnostic categories from schizophrenia to alcoholism; an unequal allocation of services to young versus elderly patients; discharge of many chronic patients to nursing homes; the increased involvement of psychiatrists in administrative work and decreased time spent in direct patient care; and an increase in third-party insurance as a source of patient fees.