Psychiatry in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe: an overview of the current situation

Objective: To review the current status of psychiatry in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Method: A group of psychiatrists from the region evaluated the status of psychiatry at the end of 2004 based on data from their countries and information available on WHO homepages. Results: There is a shift from traditional in‐patient facilities towards out‐patient and community services as evidenced by a decreasing number of hospital beds. Economic pressures affect the financing of psychiatric services, and reimbursement for novel psychotropics. Political changes were followed by updated legislation. Psychiatric training, pre‐, postgraduate and continuous medical education, are gradually being transformed. Scientific output as measured by publications in peer‐reviewed journals has been significantly lower than in the West. Conclusion: The major changes in the period of transition documented in the review pose new challenges for psychiatry.