[Fifty years of psychosomatic inpatient treatment]

This article is a review of the historical development of psychosomatic inpatient treatment form its first roots to present. The major focus of the article is a description of the present situation of psychosomatic hospitals in Germany, the kind of inpatient treatment in psychosomatic medicine, current concepts, data on lengths of stay, comorbidity, and the spectrum of diagnoses concerning psychosomatic inpatients. Furthermore, data on effectiveness of inpatient treatment and a description of a typical patient sample in psychosomatic inpatient treatment are outlined.