ABSTRACT
In 1973 a World Health Organization working party on psychiatry in general practice identified the general practitioner as playing a major role in mental health care. Although there are some logistic problems in getting both sides together, with increasing acceptance of the psychiatrist by the primary care team, the benefits of liaison psychiatry appear to outweigh the costs. The General Health Questionnaire has been used in several studies which aimed to estimate the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in general practice. Depressed patients may well present a physical symptom to their general practitioner rather than their psychological symptoms. Studies of diagnosis of psychiatric disorder in primary care have concentrated largely on depressive disorders. There is a growing need for the evaluation of the outcome of different modes of management and for what will undoubtedly be the most challenging task, the prevention of mental illness.
