Psychiatry is the branch of specialist medicine that deals with the prevention , the care and rehabilitation of disorders mental , from the standpoint of theory and practice. It is defined as a "discipline of synthesis," as the preservation and the pursuit of mental health , which is the fundamental goal of psychiatry, is obtained by taking into account different areas: medical - pharmacological , psychological , sociological , political , legal.
Henry Ey ( 1900th - one thousand nine hundred seventy-seven ), a psychiatrist French , writes on the eve of his death that "the concept of mental illness must move in the orbit of biology and medicine." He defines psychiatry as "a branch of medicine which deals with the pathology of social relations at that level it ensures that the 'autonomy and' human adaptation in the conditions of his existence."
Psychiatry is a medical practice focused mainly on the use of drugs, using accessory methods otherwise typical of psychology, which instead is the discipline that studies the behavior of individuals and their mental processes.
Psychiatry is also distinguished from psychology for the different course for the training of its practitioners.
Etymology
The term derives from the greek psyche = spirit, soul and Iatros which means care (medical). Literally, the discipline should take the "care of the soul."
Diagnosis
The psychiatric diagnosis is a complex process that relies on medical history evaluations, clinical interviews, test reagents and psychopathology, and, when necessary, of other medical and psychological assessments (internistic, neurological, psychological, social).
From an epistemological point of view, the different theoretical constructs of some psychopathological disorders have led to the use of references nosographical so-called "atheoretical," such as those expressed in the classifications, based on scientific consensus, the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, APA), in particular, the state, the DSM-IV system and the ICD -10 (International Classification of Diseases) nosographies are the most widely used internationally.
The competence of psychiatric disorders may be temporary or chronic, some psychiatric patients seeking care for a short time, while others need to be monitored and treated for long periods of time or for life, because many mental illnesses are chronic and affect so more or less serious quality (sometimes even the length) of the patient's life and, in severe cases, his family.
Therapy
The therapy usually includes a psychiatric medication or psychotherapy (or, often, a combination of both) in more severe cases usually are associated supportive treatments and rehabilitation, including social. Usually takes place in outpatient settings, as in the CSM (Mental Health Centres of the ASL), or even privately.
The majority of psychiatric patients, more severe, chronic and with severe forms of disability (usually psychotic ) is assisted in specific communities, or in groups followed by flat- ASL , and often, if possible, the patient's own home . Hospitalization, usually of a voluntary, is being implemented only in serious cases, and for defined periods.
Exceptionally, in serious cases, acute and well-defined conditions (with specific safeguards of the law), you may need an obligatory health treatment, of limited duration. The TSO is provided by the Mayor on a reasoned proposal by a doctor then countersigned by a second doctor, usually a psychiatrist, an official of a public facility. The shelter under the TSO is done in a public facility specially prepared in the General Hospital (Departments of 'Psychiatric Service of Diagnosis and Treatment, "SPDC). The TSO, which is implemented only in case of severe acute psychiatric disorders with no capacity for discernment, the law is applied only if a person present danger to himself or others, require urgent treatment and waste, and is not can take appropriate alternative measures outside hospitals, the TSO has a more precise term (one week maximum, renewable only in the presence of serious clinical problems), and can be changed at any time in a shelter volunteer.