psychiatry

/saɪˈkaɪətr/

/saɪˈkaɪətr/

Other forms: psychiatries

If you study psychiatry, you're studying a branch of medicine helps people with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. With the correct diagnosis and treatment, psychiatry can help people with mental disorders live healthy and productive lives.

First used in the 19th century, the noun psychiatry originates from the Middle Latin word psychiatria, meaning "a healing of the soul," which traces back to the Greek word psykhe, meaning "mind," and iatreia, meaning "healing, care." Someone who practices psychiatry focuses on healing the soul — or the mind — of those suffering from mental illness. Various treatments include medication and therapy.

Definitions of psychiatry

1. noun

   the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders
   synonyms: psychological medicine, psychopathology

   types:

   alienism

   an obsolete term for the study and treatment of mental illness

   mental hygiene, psychotherapeutics, psychotherapy

   the branch of psychiatry concerned with psychological methods

   clinical psychology

   the branch of psychology concerned with the treatment of abnormal mentation and behavior

   Freudian psychology

   the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud

   Jungian psychology

   the psychological theories of Carl Jung

   type of:

   medical specialty, medicine

   the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques