Disruptions in psychiatric care delivery during the transition from adolescence to adulthood frequently lead - particularly in the case of severe mental illness - to a considerable treatment delay and an especially high rate of treatment dropout with a high risk of early chronification. The joint Task Force Transition, of the German Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy (DGKJP) and the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (DGPPN), therefore analyzed general, sector-specific and disorder-specific gaps in the German psychiatric care system which obstruct a successful transition to the adult psychiatric care system. The article summarizes the results of the Task Force, outlines the aims and challenges of transition-psychiatric treatment models, and addresses their structural and professional prerequisites. The requirements and recommendations derived from this are transferred to psychiatric planning, health and research policy as well as education, training and professional development in order to optimally shape the transition from adolescent-centered to adult-oriented psychiatric care in the future.
