Psychiatry deals with prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of mental illness. A psychiatrist diagnoses and treats those with mental and emotional disorders such as schizophrenia, addictions, mood and anxiety disorders, substance-abuse disorders, and sexual and adjustment disorders. After assessment, the psychiatrist can diagnose, treat and manage an illness or problem by medication or various forms of psychotherapy. A psychiatrist is qualified to order diagnostic laboratory tests and to prescribe medications, evaluate and treat psychologic and interpersonal problems, and to intervene with families who are coping with stress, crises and other problems.

Physicians in this specialty treat patients suffering from numerous diseases and illnesses, but some of the most common are attention deficit hyperactive, learning disabilities, co-dependency, attention deficit disorder, clinical depression, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, phobias, mania, schizophrenia, claustrophobia, paranoia, agoraphobia, psychosis, social anxiety disorder, hallucination, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and panic attacks.

Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including marital therapy, marital counseling, adolescent counseling, child counseling, stress management, hypnosis, family therapy, shock treatment, relaxation therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychiatric therapy.

To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including psychiatric evaluation, intelligence tests, personality tests, add/adhd tests, depression tests, stress tests, abuse tests, psychiatric exam, sexual health tests, and addictions tests.

Doctor density varies by specialty and location. Illinois has 1,401 practicing psychiatrists. Broken out by city, psychiatry doctor density in Alton is 8, in Aurora is 22, in Belleville is 11, in Belvidere is 3, in Benton is 2, in Berwyn is 11, in Bloomington is 17, in Blue Island is 1, in Calumet City is 3, in Carbondale is 8, in Carlinville is 2, in Carterville is 3, in Centralia is 9, in Champaign is 14, in Chester is 2, in Chicago is 543, in Chicago Heights is 6, in Clinton is 1, in Crystal Lake is 15, in Danville is 12, in Darien is 1, in Decatur is 5, in Dekalb is 8, in Des Plaines is 13, in Dixon is 10, in Du Quoin is 2, in East Moline is 1, in East Peoria is 2, in Edwardsville is 4, in Effingham is 1, in Eldorado is 1, in Elgin is 21, in Elmhurst is 6, in Eureka is 1, in Evanston is 44, in Fairfield is 1, in Fairview Heights is 1, in Flora is 1, in Freeport is 6, in Galesburg is 4, in Granite City is 4, in Harrisburg is 3, in Harvard is 1, in Harvey is 5, in Herrin is 1, in Highland is 2, in Highland Park is 28, in Jacksonville is 2, in Jerseyville is 1, in Joliet is 25, in Kankakee is 11, in Kewanee is 3, in Lake Forest is 5, in Loves Park is 2, in Macomb is 2, in Marion is 6, in Mattoon is 12, in Mchenry is 4, in Moline is 12, in Monmouth is 1, in Monticello is 2, in Morris is 10, in Mount Vernon is 1, in Murphysboro is 3, in Naperville is 44, in Normal is 10, in North Chicago is 35, in Oak Forest is 2, in Oakbrook Terrace is 5, in Olney is 2, in Ottawa is 7, in Palos Heights is 21, in Palos Hills is 3, in Paris is 1, in Park Ridge is 26, in Pekin is 4, in Peoria is 31, in Peru is 1, in Pontiac is 2, in Quincy is 9, in Rochelle is 1, in Rock Island is 1, in Rockford is 31, in Rolling Meadows is 1, in Sandwich is 3, in Springfield is 29, in Sterling is 3, in Sycamore is 1, in Taylorville is 1, in Tuscola is 2, in Urbana is 9, in Warrenville is 3, in Watseka is 1, in Waukegan is 12, in West Frankfort is 2, in Wheaton is 28, in Wood River is 1, in Woodstock is 4, in Yorkville is 1, and in Zion is 4.

Most people think that Chicago, because of its size and popularity, is Illinois’ capital city, but that distinction belongs to Springfield, home of the Abraham Lincoln Museum. Illinois has hundreds of museums, numerous yearly art and ethnic festivals, a lakeshore bordering Lake Michigan, and the many national forests and parks that offers visitors camping, horseback riding, biking, kayaking, and fishing. Chicago is home to the Sears Tower, the Shedd Aquarium, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science and Industry, and other cultural opportunities and restaurants in the Navy Pier area.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Illinois has a population of 12,763,371. Of this population, 3,172,677 are under the age of 18 and 1,523,937 are at or above the age of 65.