[Occupational therapy and possibilities for interpersonal contact in a psychiatric department of a social psychiatry center].

Patients of the Department of Psychiatry of the Municipal Hospital Centre in Duisburg-Rheinhausen, Germany, are offered work therapy mainly by the nearby Sociopsychiatric Centre "Cuckoo's Nest". The possibilities of working and establishing contacts are described in detail after a brief review of the development and the advantage of shifting work therapy to an external, non-clinical site. Finally, the question is discussed whether the areas "work" and "leisure time" complement or substitute each other.