Washington, D.C. (DC) Psychiatry Doctors and Physicians

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 Learning Disabilities, Co-Dependency, Attention Deficit Hyperactive, clinical depression, Eating Disorders, Attention Deficit Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, Mania, Phobias, Schizophrenia, Agoraphobia, Hallucination, Social Anxiety Disorder, Paranoia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Panic attacks, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Claustrophobia, Panic disorder, and Psychosis.

Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including Adolescent Counseling, Hypnosis, Shock Treatment, Stress Management, Relaxation Therapy, Family Therapy, Marital Therapy, Marital Counseling, Child Counseling, Electroconvulsive therapy, and psychiatric therapy.

To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including Psychiatric Evaluation, Personality Tests, Intelligence Tests, Depression Tests, Stress Tests, ADD/ADHD Tests, Abuse Tests, psychiatric exam, Sexual Health Tests, and Addictions Tests.