The 8 types of Psychiatry (and what mental illnesses do they treat)

The human being is a tremendously complex organism, made up of multiple body systems. And this great complexity can be altered by a large number of diseases. Fortunately, when this happens we have medical and health services to help us. But what happens when we talk about imbalances in brain biochemistry or mental problems?

In these cases we have different professionals such as psychologists or psychiatrists. Regarding the latter, we can find a wide variety of subtypes, depending on what aspects they specialize in. In this article we are going to talk about the types of psychiatry, making mention of some of the best known sub-disciplines.

• Related article: "The 18 types of mental illness"

What is Psychiatry?

It receives the name of psychiatry the branch of medicine whose object of study is the human mind and mental disorders, from a generally medical-biological perspective.

The psychiatrist's main function is to evaluate, diagnose and treat the presence of different psychiatric disorders in order to generate a recovery of the subject and an improvement in their quality of lifetime. As doctors, they have the power to prescribe and prescribe psychotropic drugs.

The treatment they offer is generally pharmacological or medical, although they must take into account the psychological factors that mediate the experience of the disorder.

They also often have to deal not only with the patient but also with their relatives, especially in cases that require psychiatric hospitalization or when talking about children or the elderly with deterioration or dementia.

It is a specialization within the medical career, not being a university career by itself. To be a psychiatrist, it is necessary first to complete a medical degree and then present to the MIR and choose said specialty, after which the student must spend four years as a resident doctor in psychiatry.

Types of Psychiatry according to their specialization

Psychiatry is a branch of medicine of great interest and utility for citizens, trying to treat the various disorders and mental problems that may arise. However, not all psychiatrists work with the same type of patients, there is a great diversity of specializations. In this sense, we can find, among others, the following types of psychiatry.

1. Adult psychiatry

General psychiatry is the one that usually treats, as a general rule, with adults who present some type of severe mental pathology. Mood disorders such as depression or bipolarity, anxiety problems, and phobias and psychotic disorders are usually the main reason for consultation.

2. Child and adolescent psychiatry

Probably the type of population that is most often consulted due to concern for their well-being is children and adolescents. It is a particularly delicate and fragile type of population, with differential characteristics that require more delicate treatment. It is also one of the types of psychiatry in which they will always need contact with parents or legal guardians, as well as with school institutions.

There are many problems that specialists in this type of psychiatry can treat, highlighting the presence of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism or ADHD. In addition to this, cases of childhood depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or problems in the psychotic field, such as incipient psychosis.

3. Geriatric psychiatry

Old age is a time of great changes in people's lives. Retirement, aging and diminished capacities, illnesses and deaths of loved ones are more frequent in this vital stage. It is a stage with its own peculiarities, the elderly being generally delicate and fragile, and may require a service psychiatric in people in whom disorders appear at that age or in order to treat the evolution of a disorder upon reaching this age age.

Professionals specialized in geriatric psychiatry usually treat the elderly with severe mental disorder and cognitive and behavioral disturbances typical of dementias.

2. Forensic psychiatry

This type of psychiatry is responsible for intervening in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of subjects with mental disorders and problems with the law. It is characterized by being in charge (together with forensic psychology) of the assessment of cognitive abilities in the face of evaluate the degree of accountability and criminal responsibility of individuals, in addition to evaluating your progress and contributing to the treatment of possible psychiatric problems.

3. Sexology

Sexual dysfunctions and paraphilias can also be treated from sexology, which often makes use of psychiatrists or psychologists. Problems such as erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, anorgasmia, hypoactive sexual desire, aversion to sex, sex addiction or dyspareunia are some examples of the type of problems treatable from this discipline.

4. Eating Disorder Psychiatry

Another type of psychiatry that requires great specialization is that related to eating disorders, being this type of mental disorder one of the few that by itself can lead to the death of those who do it. suffers. This type of population requires a comprehensive and differentiated treatment, especially when we are dealing with serious cases. Anorexia and bulimia are the two most prevalent disorders.

• You may be interested: "Major eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia"

5. Addiction psychiatry

Addiction to a substance is one of the most frequent problems that can be observed in the population, and requires a concrete preparation and knowledge about what addiction, withdrawal or the different ways of treat them. In this sense, addiction to alcohol, cocaine, heroin or cannabis are some of the most common pathologies in this type of psychiatry.

However, keep in mind that there are also non-substance addictions. Compulsive shopping, gambling or addiction to new technologies are also examples of disorders that can be treated from this type of service.

6. Neuropsychiatry

Neuropsychiatry is a discipline that works on the presence of psychiatric disorders in the context of problems related to the nervous system. In this discipline, there is usually a greater knowledge of the operation of this system. It usually deals with strokes, patients with cognitive impairment derived from a mental disorder or from substance counseling or dementias, among others.

• Related article: "Parts of the Nervous System: anatomical structures and functions"

7. Liaison Psychiatry or Interconsultations

This type of psychiatry is characterized by serving as a link between the psychiatric and medical aspects that involve suffering from a disease. Topics such as the experience of a chronic or terminal illness, adherence to treatment or treatment The stress, anxiety or depression that may arise from it are typical of this type of psychiatrists.

8. Emergency psychiatry

A type of psychiatry that, although it does in Spain, is not recognized as a specialty in other countries. This is the psychiatrist who attends emergency situations, such as the appearance of a psychotic outbreak, depression with planned suicidal ideation or emergencies due to drug use.

Bibliographic references:

• Lieberman, J. A., Ogas, O. (2015): Shrinks: The untold story of Psychiatry. New York: Back Bay Books.
• Semple, D. (2005): Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Sadock, B. J., Ahmad, S. and Sadock, V. TO. (2018): Kaplan & Sadock's Pocket Handbook of Clinical Psychiatry. Riverwoods (Illinois): Lippincott Williams & Wilkins