GREEK PSYCHIATRY TRANSITION FROM THE HOSPITAL TO THE COMMUNITY

The psychiatric care system in Greece is currently undergoing a transformation of its service network, propelled to a great extent by recommendations and funding from the European Economic Community (EEC). Formerly, mental-health treatment was provided primarily by large state mental hospitals. The new direction is toward deinstitutionalization and a community-care approach. This article examines the development of the Greek mental health care system through historical and ethnographic data. The history of the system is described briefly; cultural, governmental, and Greek psychiatric contributions to its development are analyzed, and the present reorganization of psychiatric care and the EEC's role is discussed. The case of Greek mental health care illustrates the dynamic nature of a biomedical specialty.