25 Mental hospitals and 12 social psychiatric services co0perated in a registration of referrals and admissions from 6 provinces during the month of October 1970. The numbers of referrals and admissions varied from province to province, and in addition showed considerable variation depending on the source of referral, the clinical diagnosis, the type of behavioural disturbance, the age-group, the availability of the services etc. It is concluded that referral and admission of psychiatric patients is much less dependent on true morbidity than on such factors as the attitudes of the population and the policies of the services.