ABSTRACT
The data from recent comprehensive epidemiologic studies emphatically underscore the fact that psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent in contemporary society. The benchmark NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) Study (Myers et al., 1984; Regier et al., 1988; Robins et al., 1984) demonstrated conclusively that psychiatric disorders are pervasive throughout the United States. Similar high rates have been documented in Europe and in Australia (Regier et al., 1988). In the context of primary care, which in recent years has been characterized as “the de facto mental health services system in the United States” (Burns & Burke, 1985; Regier, Goldberg, & Taube, 1978), the prevalence of psychiatric conditions is measurably higher, ranging between 20% and 30% (Barrett, Barrett, Oxman, & Gerber, 1988; Derogatis & Wise, 1989). These rates have been confirmed by Hansson, Nettelbladt, Borgquist, and Nordstrom (1994), Olfson et al. (1995), and Ustun and Sartorius (1995).
