Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that diagnoses, treats, and studies mental illness and behavioral conditions. While all physicians will encounter patients with mental illnesses and any of them may treat it, psychiatrists specialize in these areas, being more extensively trained in the differential diagnosis (distinguishing various forms) and treatment of mental illness and are professionally required to keep up to date on the newest developments in the field of mental illness. Additionally psychologists, nurse practitioners, and social workers can provide psychiatric care though of these only the nurse practitioners may prescribe medication.

Practice of psychiatry

Psychiatry has proven to be a malleable term, which today refers to the branches of medicine which associate with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, such as major depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. This specialization uses laboratory and imaging studies, medication, and psychotherapy in diagnosing and treating psychiatric conditions. A healthcare rubric that, having yielded to the growing persuasion of unmet public mental healthcare demands, continues to expanded in scope to more aptly describe not just the practice of psychiatrists, but also of psychiatric nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists who provide virtually the same scope of everyday independent practice and quality of care.

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The field of psychiatry itself can be subdivided into various subfields, and many institutional psychiatrists and Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners practice one of these fields. Acute psychiatry (psychoses, consultation-liaison psychiatry and crisis intervention), mood disorders, long-term care, substance and alcohol abuse and learning difficulties are amongst the more prominent subfields of psychiatry. Child psychiatry focuses on children and adolescents.

Related Topics:
Psychoses - Mood disorder - Substance - Alcohol abuse - Learning difficulties - Child psychiatry - Children - Adolescents

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Individuals with mental illness, typically referred to as patients (or, sometimes, clients) may come under the care of a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner through various processes. This may be by self-referral or referral by a primary care physician (the two most common methods in the United States) or by hospital medical staff, by sectioning (in the UK) or involuntary commitment by law or after a court order. In all circumstances, the psychiatrist makes an assessment of the patient's mental and somatic (general medical) functioning, through conversation with the patient and/or by obtaining information from relatives and associates, carers, law enforcement personnel or the nursing staff and therapists of institutions (if the client is admitted or sectioned). Physical examination is usually performed to establish or exclude physical illness and identify subtle signs of self-harm, and blood tests and medical imaging may be performed, which may lead to the involvement of other medical specialists in a patient's care (e.g. if thyroid or another hormonal problem is diagnosed).

Related Topics:
Sectioning - UK - Involuntary commitment - Court order - Physical examination - Self-harm - Blood test - Medical imaging - Thyroid

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Mental and behavioral conditions are treated with various forms of therapy and counseling, and often with medication. Psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy may be used in many conditions, either exclusively or in combination with medication. In general, commencing a patient on medication requires that the patient agrees to this treatment (although in many countries the law provides overriding circumstances) and that the patient will remain compliant with the treatment. In addition, many psychiatric medications may have side-effects and therefore the patient may require ongoing monitoring (e.g. a frequent full blood count for patients on clozapine, an antipsychotic, or monitoring of serum levels of lithium in patients on lithium salts); many psychiatric hospitals and institutions have facilities for therapeutic drug monitoring. Electroconvulsive therapy is occasionally administered in serious and disabling conditions that are unresponsive to pharmacotherapy.

Related Topics:
Psychotherapy - Cognitive behavioral therapy - Side-effect - Full blood count - Clozapine - Antipsychotic - Lithium - Lithium salt - Therapeutic drug monitoring - Electroconvulsive therapy

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Psychiatric patients can be broadly grouped into inpatients and outpatients. Outpatients live in their normal community, and come in periodically to the psychiatrist?s office for care, typically for a 30-60 minute appointment. These office sessions generally involve an update in condition and assessment, medication management, and in some cases psychotherapy. The length of time between sessions varies widely, depending on the severity of the condition and the patient?s stability.

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Inpatients are confined to a hospital where they receive their psychiatric care (voluntarily in the majority of cases, but sometimes involuntarily in severe or dangerous cases). In a hospital setting, patients can be more carefully monitored, treated more rapidly, and better protected from self-harm (and in rarer cases, harming others). Hospitalized patients are increasingly being managed in a multidisciplinary fashion, where nursing staff, occupational therapists, psychotherapists, social workers and other health care professionals offer their input in the care for a patient. Historically, particularly before the advent of psychiatric medication, hospital stays averaged six months or more with a large number of cases requiring hospitalization for many years. Today the average hospital stay is on the order of two to three weeks, with only a small number of cases requiring long term hospitalization. Upon release from the hospital, inpatients typically become outpatients.

Related Topics:
Nursing staff - Occupational therapists - Social work

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