Meaning
Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. It involves medical knowledge as well as therapeutic techniques to help patients manage mental health conditions.
Grammar and Usage
- Part of speech: Noun (uncountable)
- Used to refer to the medical field, not to individual treatments (e.g., "He works in psychiatry").
- Related adjective: psychiatric
- Related noun: psychiatrist (a doctor who specializes in psychiatry).
Typical structures:
- specialize in psychiatry
- practice psychiatry
- department of psychiatry
Common Phrases
- Child psychiatry
- Forensic psychiatry
- Clinical psychiatry
- Psychiatry ward
- Psychiatry department
Collocations
- Verb + psychiatry: practice psychiatry, study psychiatry, enter psychiatry
- Adjective + psychiatry: modern psychiatry, clinical psychiatry, community psychiatry
- Noun + psychiatry: department of psychiatry, branch of psychiatry, psychiatry clinic
Examples
- She decided to specialize in psychiatry after medical school.
- Psychiatry has made great advances in treating depression and anxiety.
- He works in the psychiatry department of a major hospital.
- Forensic psychiatry deals with mental health issues related to crime and law.
- The new textbook on psychiatry is very helpful for medical students.
- Advances in psychiatry often combine medicine with psychology.
- Child psychiatry focuses on diagnosing and treating mental disorders in children.
- She is doing her residency in psychiatry at a university hospital.
Synonyms or Related
- Psychology (related but not the same; not a medical specialty)
- Mental health medicine
- Psychiatric medicine
- Psychotherapy (a treatment method within psychiatry and psychology)