Mental healthcare in Germany--current situation and perspectives

Abstract

For several years, there has been a significant increase of the utilization of health care due to mental disorders in Germany. Epidemiologic studies dealing with the prevalence of mental disorders show that the prevalence of mental disorders haven't increased. In consideration of the relative stable prevalence, currently there are only speculations about the reasons for the increasing service utilization. The capacity of psychiatric-psychosomatic-psychotherapeutic health care services is increasing. Despite the fact that capacity is increasing, in the outpatient and inpatient sector it comes apparent that there is an increasing burden, indicating that the demand for mental health care is not met by the capacity of psychiatric-psychosomatic-psychotherapeutic health care services. Health care provision by general practitioners and somatic disciplines predominate, going along with low cross-disciplinary and coordinated cooperation. So far, cooperative, intersectoral care models for mental disorders have been realized only in individual projects. Valid data are lacking, which need to reveal the causes and especially the consequences of this situation of mental health care provision and provide reference standards for an optimized, need-based care planning. For this reason, it is imperative to advance quality management for the care of mental disorders. With a view to the high rates of somatic comorbidity, an expansion of cooperative forms of mental health care appears essential.