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. Louisiana has 389 practicing psychiatrists. Broken out by city, psychiatry doctor density in Alexandria is 12, in Barksdale Airforce Base is 1, in Baton Rouge is 48, in Benton is 1, in Bogalusa is 2, in Bossier City is 3, in Breaux Bridge is 1, in Chalmette is 2, in Church Point is 1, in Covington is 9, in Crowley is 1, in Folsom is 1, in Gonzales is 4, in Gretna is 4, in Hammond is 3, in Houma is 7, in Jackson is 1, in Jefferson is 5, in Jennings is 1, in Kenner is 1, in La Place is 2, in Lafayette is 11, in Lake Charles is 16, in Leesville is 1, in Mamou is 1, in Mandeville is 4, in Marrero is 3, in Maurice is 1, in Metairie is 22, in Monroe is 9, in Morgan City is 1, in Natchitoches is 2, in New Iberia is 2, in New Orleans is 152, in Opelousas is 1, in Pineville is 4, in Raceland is 3, in Ruston is 3, in Shreveport is 57, in Simmesport is 1, in Slidell is 10, in Springhill is 1, in Terrytown is 1, in Thibodaux is 3, in Tioga is 1, in West Monroe is 3, in Westwego is 1, and in Youngsville is 1.

Louisiana was named after French King Louis XIV, and the state joined the union in 1812. Louisiana’s population is 4,523,628, and Baton Rouge is its capital city. Louisiana has rich cultural heritage that is celebrated at many festivals all over the state. Taste a variety of cuisines, including Cajun and Creole food. Listen to jazz or zydeco music in New Orleans, visit the French Quarter, attend the Mardi Gras in the spring, or take a steamboat trip down the Mississippi River.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Louisiana has a population of 4,523,628. Of this population, 1,132,763 are under the age of 18 and 528,837 are at or above the age of 65.