Psychiatric Disorders/Introduction

What is Psychiatry?

Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

However, it should also be noted that recent advances in the field have expanded its scope as the distinction between “psychiatric” disease and “medical” disorders has begun to blur. It is now widely recognized that psychiatric disease is an independent risk factor in the etiology of many disease states and disorders that have traditionally been the viewed as “medical” disorders. For example, depression is now known to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, pharmacologic treatment of psychiatric disorders also plays a role in the iatrogenic etiology of medical disease. (for example, Diabetes Mellitus, cardiac arrhythmias, and Hypertension).

Development Status

This volume on Psychiatry is currently in the initial stages of development. Further development will be a project of the Educational Taskforce of the World Psychiatric Association.

For further information, please contact Dan Stein (dan.stein@uct.ac.za).