[Analysis of the prevalence of psychic disorders in the metropolitan region of Recife].

Mental health is a state of well-being, in which the individual is aware of its capacities, capable of coping with the ordinary stress of everyday life, of working productively and of functioning in society. The purpose of the present work is a quantitative analysis of the prevalence of psychic disorders, using references such as sex, age, kind of disorder and care delivered to the carriers. Social assistants of three psychiatric hospitals of the Metropolitan Region of Recife - the Psychiatric Hospital Ulysses Pernambucano, the Nucleus for Psychosocial Care of Pernambuco (NAPPE) and the Hospital Colony Alcides Codeceira - answered an adapted version of the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). The results showed a higher incidence of disorders in women in the age group between 41 and 60 years. Schizophrenia was the most frequently observed kind of mental disorder. Among the different treatments offered were drug therapy and individual and group therapy, the latter showing better results.