psychiatry psychiatry psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental conditions. these include various issues related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. not to be confused with clinical psychology. psychiatryoccupationnamesphysicianactivity sectorsmedicinedescriptioneducation required doctor of medicine (md) doctor of osteopathic medicine (do) bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery (mbbs/mbchb) bachelor of science in clinical medicine (psychiatry) higher diploma in clinical medicine and surgery (psychiatry) diploma in clinical medicine and surgery diploma in clinical psychiatry related jobs medical specialties clinical psychology initial psychiatric assessment of a person typically begins with a case history and mental status examination. physical examinations and psychological tests may be conducted. on occasion, neuroimaging or other neurophysiological techniques are used. mental disorders are often diagnosed in accordance with clinical concepts listed in diagnostic manuals such as the widely used international classification of diseases (icd), edited and used by the world health organization (who) and the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (dsm), published by the american psychiatric association (apa). the fifth edition of the dsm (dsm-5) was published in may 2013 which re-organized the larger categories of various diseases and expanded upon the previous edition to include information/insights that are consistent with current research. combined treatment with psychiatric medication and psychotherapy has become the most common mode of psychiatric treatment in current practice, but contemporary practice also includes a wide variety of other modalities, e.g., assertive community treatment, community reinforcement, and supported employment. treatment may be delivered on an inpatient or outpatient basis, depending on the severity of functional impairment or on other aspects of the disorder in question. an inpatient may be treated in a psychiatric hospital. research within psychiatry as a whole is conducted on an interdisciplinary basis with other professionals, such as epidemiologists, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, or clinical psychologists. etymology the word psyche comes from the ancient greek for 'soul' or 'butterfly'. the fluttering insect appears in the coat of arms of britain's royal college of psychiatrists. the term psychiatry was first coined by the german physician johann christian reil in 1808 and literally means the 'medical treatment of the soul' (psych- 'soul' from ancient greek psykhē 'soul'; -iatry 'medical treatment' from gk. iātrikos 'medical' from iāsthai 'to heal'). a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry is a psychiatrist. (for a historical overview, see timeline of psychiatry.) theory and focus "psychiatry, more than any other branch of medicine, forces its practitioners to wrestle with the nature of evidence, the validity of introspection, problems in communication, and other long-standing philosophical issues" (guze, 1992, p.4). psychiatry refers to a field of medicine focused specifically on the mind, aiming to study, prevent, and treat mental disorders in humans. it has been described as an intermediary between the world from a social context and the world from the perspective of those who are mentally ill. people who specialize in psychiatry often differ from most other mental health professionals and physicians in that they must be familiar with both the social and biological sciences. the discipline studies the operations of different organs and body systems as classified by the patient's subjective experiences and the objective physiology of the patient. psychiatry treats mental disorders, which are conventionally divided into three general categories: mental illnesses, severe learning disabilities, and personality disorders. although the focus of psychiatry has changed little over time, the diagnostic and treatment processes have evolved dramatically and continue to do so. since the late 20th century, the field of psychiatry has continued to become more biological and less conceptually isolated from other medical fields. scope of practice further information: neurology § overlap with psychiatry disability-adjusted life year for neuropsychiatric conditions per 100,000 inhabitants in 2002 no data less than 10 10–20 20–30 30–40 40–50 50–60 60–80 80–100 100–120 120–140 140–150 more than 150 though the medical specialty of psychiatry uses research in the field of neuroscience, psychology, medicine, biology, biochemistry, and pharmacology, it has generally been considered a middle ground between neurology and psychology. because psychiatry and neurology are deeply intertwined medical specialties, all certification for both specialties and for their subspecialties is offered by a single board, the american board of psychiatry and neurology, one of the member boards of the american board of medical specialties. unlike other physicians and neurologists, psychiatrists specialize in the doctor–patient relationship and are trained to varying extents in the use of psychotherapy and other therapeutic communication techniques. psychiatrists also differ from psychologists in that they are physicians and have post-graduate training called residency (usually 4 to 5 years) in psychiatry; the quality and thoroughness of their graduate medical training is identical to that of all other physicians. psychiatrists can therefore counsel patients, prescribe medication, order laboratory tests, order neuroimaging, and conduct physical examinations. ethics