ABSTRACT
The Scandinavian countries ± Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden ± have common cultural features permeating psychiatric activities by way of congresses, journals, exchange visits and research projects. The Nordic welfare states have particularly supported the development of community psychiatry, However, each country has its own developmental history. We will therefore describe the psychotherapeutically oriented schizophrenia research and practices in each country except for the smaller Iceland (well known for its tradition of psychiatric epidemiology initiated by Helgason, 1964). We ®nish with a joint overview.
