Psychiatry is a branch of medical science that conducts a study of all the mental disorders. The analysis and treatment usually includes understanding the past history of the patient and analyzing his mental status after performing certain physical tests and psychological examinations if required. A doctor who specializes in the field of psychiatry is known as a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists can obtain and interpret the various tests done on the patient like physical examinations, laboratory tests and brain scanning using computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging or positron emission tomography, etc.

Psychiatrists handle different kinds of patients and situations. They could help in the diagnosis and treatment of people suffering from mental disorders that have risen due to addiction, they could handle child psychiatry which could involve understanding of various biological factors, genetic factors, historical past of the child, environmental factors, etc. affecting the child’s behavior, they attain to emergency situations like attempt suicide, etc. that require immediate psychiatric attention, etc. Apart from these main situations there could be other situations wherein a psychiatric might have to work with other medical professionals like sleep disorders, eating disorders, health of women, mood disorders, traumatic situations, stress, etc. These situations are very delicate and if not handled with care by the correct kind of person, can show disastrous results. Hence these doctors undergo extensive training even after completing their medical education. They attend to the patient till he is ready to handle the burden of his own responsibilities, after which he is advised to sort the services of a psychologist to help him stay happy and lead a normal life.