Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses. It also includes research and teaching in this field. Because mental disorders often involve physical symptoms and are influenced by psychological, social, and biological factors, psychiatry must combine both psychological and biological approaches.
For many people, psychiatry is unfamiliar and even frightening. This fear is often intensified by sensational and misleading media coverage. On the other hand, there is a common belief that mental issues are easy to understand, even for non-experts, and that anyone can have an opinion on psychiatric topics. Attitudes toward psychiatry are therefore often mixed and complex.
Those who explore psychiatry in more depth, discover a highly diverse and scientifically fascinating field. It is also therapeutically effective and has seen major advances over recent decades bacaming one of the medical disciplines that has made the most progress in that time.
Psychiatry
The medical field of psychiatry focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of mental and psychosomatic disorders. It also includes the use of social and psychotherapeutic methods. The word “psychiatry” comes from the Greek words psyche (soul) and iatros (physician), and literally means “healing of the soul.”
Put simply, psychiatry deals with all health issues that affect a person’s mental state, whether their causes are psychological or physical. In addition to the mental and physical aspects, the social environment must also be considered, since every person exists within a social context. Psychiatry, therefore, approaches mental illness from a bio-psycho-social perspective, taking into account psychological, physical, and social factors.
Explanation of Titles: Psychiatrist versus Psychologist
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who, after completing medical school undergoes at least five additional years of specialized training. In Germany four years are spent on clinical psychiatry and psychotherapy, and one year is focused on inpatient neurology. This specialization qualifies psychiatrists to provide both medical and psychotherapeutic treatment for mental disorders.
The title “psychologist” is legally protected and may only be used by individuals who have completed a university degree in psychology. Unlike psychiatry, which is a branch of medicine, psychology is an independent empirical science. It studies and explains human behavior and experience, development across the lifespan, and all internal and external factors that influence these processes. After earning their degree, psychologists can pursue several years of further training to become licensed psychological psychotherapists or psychoanalysts.
Psychology
Describing psychology as a science isn’t easy at first glance. Most people have at least a vague idea of what psychology is and what psychologists do. One thing most can agree on: psychology is centered on the human thoughts, feelings and behaviour.
Modern psychology can be divided into two major domains: behavioral or psychodynamic psychology.
“Every Day’s” Psychology
In everyday life, we constantly interact with others and try to understand or predict their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. We base these attempts on personal observations—often from family, friends, or acquaintances. This intuitive knowledge, or “common sense,” helps us navigate social situations and manage daily life. This “folk psychology” is likely as old as humanity itself and deeply rooted in our way of living. While it can be helpful in individual cases, it cannot produce general or reliable conclusions, nor does it meet scientific standards.
Behavioral Psychology
Behavioural psychology is a strictly empirical science. This means that all claims must be based on systematic observation and evidence. Behavioural psychology investigates human experience and behavior across the entire lifespan. It considers both internal factors—such as biological, neurological, genetic, and psychological influences—and external ones like environmental and social conditions. The goal is to describe, explain, predict, or influence psychological processes.
Psychodynamic Psychology
Psychodynamic psychology is a theoretical and therapeutic approach within psychology that focuses on understanding the human mind—especially unconscious motives, desires, and inner conflicts. It derives from Sigmund Freud‘s psychoanalysis.
The basic idea behind psychodynamic psychology is that many psychological problems come from unconscious inner conflicts and mental processes we’re not aware of. These hidden struggles can cause symptoms such as anxiety, depression, or physical complaints without a clear medical cause.
The goal of psychodynamic therapy is to bring these unconscious conflicts into awareness. By gaining insight into these hidden processess, people can better understand themselves and begin to heal.
Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology specifically addresses the psychological aspects of health and disease. It encompasses areas such as psychosocial development across the lifespan, individual perceptions and coping mechanisms related to illness.
Clinical psychology, a branch of applied psychology, is not limited to treatment in hospitals or clinics. It involves personality assessment, human interaction across different life situations, and various forms of counseling—such as in education, careers, marriage, or substance use.
In psychiatric settings, psychologists regularly participate in diagnostic and therapeutic work. Depending on their qualifications, they may also conduct outpatient psychotherapy. To become a licensed psychological psychotherapist, one must meet specific legal training requirements.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy involves treating mental illnesses using psychological methods. It is a part of psychiatric treatment. Psychotherapy is based mainly on depth psychology (psychodynamics) and behavioral psychology (learning theories).
A psychotherapist can be a medical doctor (called a medical psychotherapist) or a psychologist (psychological psychotherapist) who has completed additional specialized training in psychotherapy.
Since 1999, the professional title “psychotherapist” has been legally regulated and protected in many countries, including Germany. Both doctors and psychologists can obtain this qualification through additional training after finishing their studies.
Medical specialists in psychiatry receive the required psychotherapeutic training as part of their specialist education. Psychologists, on the other hand, complete this training in a multi-year program after finishing their psychology degree.
Psychopathology
A subfield of psychiatry is psychopathology, which focuses on describing abnormal experiences, emotions, and behaviors in their psychological, social, and biological contexts. This involves not only naming and classifying mental disorders (descriptive or categorical psychopathology), similar to how pathophysiology relates to internal medicine, but also exploring deeper relationships within the disorders themselves (phenomenological and interpretive psychopathology), as well as their links to deeper psychological and interpersonal processes (dynamic or interactional psychopathology).
Psychopathology also looks at how patients perceive their own illness, which includes their overall quality of life. Just as pathophysiology builds on general physiology, psychopathology relies on psychology.
Psychopharmacology
A key area with great practical importance is psychopharmacology, the study of how medications affect mental functions. This field includes neuropsychopharmacology, which is focused on animal studies and neurochemistry, and clinical psychopharmacology, which is mainly therapeutic.
Thanks to recent discoveries, psychiatry today is a strongly therapeutic discipline. Several areas of treatment have grown so much that they are almost like their own subfields.
Sociotherapy
Sociotherapy focuses on improving the interactions between mentally ill individuals and their social environments, especially in family and work contexts. Community psychiatry aims to reintegrate people with mental illness into society. Psychiatry cannot be separated from social factors—this is why it always includes a social psychiatry component.
Psychiatric Hospitals
A psychiatric hospital treats the full range of mental and psychiatric disorders. A multidisciplinary team works together, usually including doctors, psychologists, and specially trained nurses.
In inpatient psychiatric hospitals, there are open and closed wards. Closed wards are designed for patients in need of acute or intensive care, especially when there is a risk of self-harm or danger to others. In inpatient psychiatric hospitals, there are open and closed wards.
In addition to inpatient care, there are also day clinics, psychiatric residential homes, and outpatient psychiatric care services.
General Psychiatric Units
They mainly focus on mood disorders, personality disorders, and psychotic conditions.
Geriatric Units
In a geriatric psychiatric units, the focus is on mental illnesses in people over the age of 60. These facilities treat disorders commonly seen in general psychiatry, but also those that typically appear in later life—such as different forms of dementia.
Addiction or Detox Units
are specialize in treating illnesses related to substance abuse and dependence. This includes alcohol and drug addictions. Some clinics also offer treatment for behavioral addictions like compulsive gambling.
Forensic Psychiatry
In forensic psychiatry, mental disorders of individuals who have committed criminal offenses are treated. These treatments are carried out under court orders and fall under what is called “forensic commitment,” which differs from standard imprisonment. There are three types of forensic commitment: when the offender is found not guilty due to insanity, when the crime occurred under the influence of substances, or when the crime calls for long-term preventive detention. The main goal of treatment in this setting is to reduce the risk of further criminal behavior. Psychiatric assessments play a key role here—forensic psychiatrists must often evaluate the criminal responsibility of the patients.
