ABSTRACT
This chapter presents findings from a systematic epidemiologic study on mental disorders in two boroughs of Greater Athens. It provides information on possible differences in the rates of treated and untreated psychiatric morbidity and to answer several relevant questions. Taking these epidemiologic issues into consideration, a number of studies were conducted, in order to measure the prevalence of treated and untreated mental disorders and their diagnostic classification in the catchment area of the Athens University Community Mental Health Centre. The total prevalence rates of persons treated in the mental health services in both the one-year and the two-weeks census periods were only 13.6 and 8.2 per 1000 respectively, compared with 14 per cent of community residents who were classified as probable or definite cases in a one-month prevalence period. The consequences from the discrepancy between treated and untreated prevalence rates are of great importance in the planning and development of an early referral system for the Community Mental Health Centre.
