Do Community Mental Health Centers Underserve Psychotic Individuals?

An analysis of treatment statistics from three community mental health centers in California indicates that the centers provide treatment to a substantial proportion of the psychotic individuals in the community. Psychotic patients have a significantly higher number of inpatient, day treatment, and outpatient admissions than neurotics. Psychotic patients also receive significantly more treatment in all major service modalities than neurotics. The authors conclude that severely impaired individuals in the treatment population are neither ignored by the centers nor routinely transferred to a state hospital.