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Abstract
Background: The mental health service system has experienced great changes during recent years in Finland.
Aims: To describe the historical development and recent situation of mental health services in Finland.
Methods: Review of articles and official statistics.
Results: Until the end of the 1970s, the mental health care system in Finland was based on a great number of mental institutions and an increasing number of mental health centres. It also had an independent administration. As a result of the reforms inside and outside psychiatry in the 1980s and 1990s, the number of beds in mental hospitals rapidly declined, while the use of the psychiatric outpatient care and complimentary services increased. The psychiatric care became fused with specialized medical care system and suffered from large financial cuts during the economic depression.
Conclusions: At the moment, lack of financial resources and scattered administration, as well as burn-out of psychiatric personnel and increasing lack of psychiatrists in public services are the greatest problems facing the mental health care system in Finland.
Declaration of interest: The author is President of the Finnish Psychiatric Association. The views are those of the author.