[New stipulations for rehabilitation of mentally ill. Will return to normal life be facilitated?].

Current changes in the laws pertaining to mental disorders are mainly concerned with the redefinition in the Sozialgesetzbuch IX (SGB IX) [Social Law] of the term "disability", and the forthcoming introduction of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Accordingly, the rehabilitation of the mentally disturbed will be based on an integrative bio-psychosocial treatment concept, which--in parallel with curative therapy--right from the beginning envisages measures aimed at reintegration of the patient into daily/occupational life. On the basis of the ICF, all patients with mental disorders of more than 6 months' duration may be classified by the medical services of the health insurance carriers as being in need of rehabilitation. Appropriate care-related structures in psychiatric and psychosomatic areas are to some extent already available.