A psychiatrist/provider is a person who completed medical school/advanced nurse practitioner school and specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental health, including substance use disorders.

Psychiatrists/providers are qualified to assess both the mental and physical aspects of psychological disturbance. A psychiatrist/provider has completed medical school/advanced nurse practitioner school (is an M.D. or D.O., PA, NP) and in addition most providers have additional years of training in psychiatry.

People seek psychiatric help for many reasons. The problems can be sudden such as a panic attack, or frightening hallucinations, thoughts of suicide, or hearing “voices.” Or they may be more long-term, such as feelings of sadness and hopelessness or anxious feelings that never seem to lift, causing everyday life to feel distorted or out of control.

A psychiatrist is a physician/provider who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental health and emotional problems. Because of extensive medical training, the psychiatrist/provider understands the body’s functions and the complex relationship between emotional illness and other medical illness. The psychiatrist/provider is thus the mental health professional and physician/provider best qualified to distinguish between physical and psychological causes of both mental and physical distress.

Psychiatrists/providers are clinicians who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health.

Mental health issues, including addictions, are common. Like other medical illnesses, mental health range from severe and life-threatening disorders to relatively mild and self-limiting conditions. Approximately 2.8% of the adult population suffers from severe mental health, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, or from the more common, yet disabling, anxiety and depressive disorders or from alcohol and other substance abuse.

Because they are physicians/medical providers, psychiatrists/providers can order or perform a full range of medical and psychological tests that provide a complete picture of a patient’s physical and mental state.

Their education and years of clinical experience equip them to understand the complex relationship between emotional and other medical illnesses, evaluate the entire medical and psychological data, make a diagnosis, and develop a treatment plan.