[Criticism of psychiatric health services: what can psychiatry change].

Dissatisfaction of treatment capacity and of the results of treatment have been two main complaints about the contemporary psychiatric health service. The author tries to sort out what psychiatry itself can do, and what the public authorities can do to reduce the reasons for these complaints. She also shows why psychiatry always has to live with a certain amount of irrational criticism as a part of the essence of its work. In order to reduce the rational criticism, psychiatry can define its obligations more clearly and give priority to certain patient groups, develop subspecialization and more differential treatment, and provide better information to the public. The public authorities can increase the number of professionals in specific programs, and improve the quality of the educational system and research.