Experiences from a psychiatric service to immigrant groups using native therapists

Experiences from an out-patient department giving psychiatric service in their own language to three immigrant groups to Sweden, namely Finnish, Yugoslavian and Greek patients are described. Compared to Swedish patients, depressive disorders and alcohol abuse were much less common among the patients from southern Europe, who instead showed much more of psychosomatic distress. Treatment results were not too encouraging, a negative social situation of the patient was often difficult to change. In the future, the author considers it advantageous to have one psychiatric immigrant department for one nationality at one place and to connect it to an already existing department for Swedish patients.