ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature of community psychiatry as it is taking shape. It considers our continuing uncertainty about mental illness which is manifested in a widening of its definition. The chapter discusses some of the historical landmarks and cultural forces that have brought about the proposal for this new subspecialty of psychiatry. It examines some of its hidden aspects with respect to the future role of psychiatry. A pattern concerned with maximizing treatment potential for the mentally ill is gradually taking shape. This newest emphasis points to a declining role of the traditional state hospital and the rise of the community mental health center with all of the attendant auxiliary services essential for the treatment of the mentally ill. Efforts in the direction of carving out a subspecialty of psychiatry known as community psychiatry take place in a cultural atmosphere which has seen a definite attempt to widen the definition of what constitutes mental illness.
