An exploration was made of feelings and experiences of the relatives of acutely admitted psychiatric patients. At the time of admission, feelings of helplesness and exhaustion were prominent. Though after admission the family members felt often relieved, they were pessimistic about longterm prognosis.

The majority was found to have a hardly coherent view of the mental disorder of the admitted patient. The subjective burden was generally high. Trying to prevent admissions by treating the patient at home may add too much burden on some families.