The authors present in this paper three types of data on mental disorders: prevalence rates in representative samples, prevalence rates (primary data) in a family study and the indicators of diagnostics' proportion among the patients admitted to Brazilian psychiatric hospitals. Concerning to one survey carried out over representative samples, the overall prevalence rate was 20%, of which, 3.0%, 14.6%, 0. 7%, 1.1%, and 0.5% were due respectively to alcoholism, neurosis, psychosis, mental deficiency, and organic brain syndrome. The sex distribution has shown an overt but expected excess of alcoholism among the males, and neurosis among the females. In one study related to the original family (parents and siblings) of 150 heavy drug abusers, the overall prevalence rate of mental disorders among 796 relatives of these 150 drug users was 23.2%, of which, 8.4%, 5.3%, 3.1%, 4.0%, 0.8%, 0.9%, and 0.8% were respectively due to alcohol related problems, drug addiction, psychosis, neurosis, epilepsy, antisocial personality and other diagnosis. The alcohol related problems were by far the most frequent among the fathers, drug addiction among the siblings, and neurosis among the mothers of those 150 index-patients. The characteristics of Brazil's psychiatric facilities are partially viewed by means of first admittion's indicator, at psychiatric wards. The proportion through the diagnosis is provided in a time-distribution table from 1940 to 1977. Such data shows that the first admittion rate has increased in the last four decades; the most frequent diagnosis have been schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug addiction. However, between the diagnostic profile of public hospitals and that of private ones, there is an outstanding difference. The former with an increased amount of serious disorders, while the latter shows a great number of lighters ones. Such findings are discussed with an aim of helping Mental Health Planning.
