Psychiatry

A specialization within medicine encompassing prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and research of mental disorders. Psychiatry, although parallel in many respects to clinical psychology has been historically and is at present a branch of medicine. Psychiatrists hold the MD degree, whereas clinical psychologists hold a PhD or other professional degree. The historical issue here is more important than many realize, for psychiatry has traditionally taken the point of view that emotional and behavioral disorders are medical problems and that a person with a serious behavioral or emotional disability is mentally ill. As such, the psychiatrist is trained specifically in abnormalities and their prevention and cure, and little training is received in theories of normal behavior, experimental design, collection and analysis of data, etc.

The practice of psychiatry is extremely broad and includes aspects that are indeed strictly medical such as drug treatment, electroconvulsive shock therapy, legal issues of institutionalization and hospitalization, and organic disabilities with psychological manifestations. However, it also includes many aspects that have little to do with the domain of medicine in a strict sense including behavior modification therapy and psychoanalysis. Indeed, in these endeavors the practicing psychiatrist is little different from the practicing clinical psychologist.