Psychiatric complications of HIV-infection may be psychogenic or organic. Diagnostics, treatment and management are discussed. Specific or unknown psychiatric syndromes do not occur. 32 patients with HIV-infection admitted to the wards of a university hospital were seen by a psychiatrist. In the group of 24 patients all ready diagnosed as having AIDS, most frequent DSM-III-diagnoses were delirium (n = 6), adjustment disorder with depressed or anxious mood (n = 4), dementia (n = 4) and major depressive episode (n = 5). Psychiatric treatment and management are very much the same as with psychiatric symptoms due to other causes but specific knowledge of the most recent developments concerning HIV-infection, the risk of exposure and the problems of homosexuality and iv-drugabuse is required.