Occasional service at Riddiford Medical Specialists.

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Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. Initial psychiatric assessment of a person typically begins with a case history and mental status examination. Physical examinations and psychological tests may be conducted. On occasion, neuroimaging or other neurophysiological techniques are used.

 

Mental disorders are often diagnosed in accordance with clinical concepts listed in diagnostic manuals and classified according to DSM criteria. Combined treatment with psychiatric medication and psychotherapy has become the most common mode of psychiatric treatment in current practice, but contemporary practice also includes a wide variety of other modalities, and psychiatry as a whole may include other professionals, such as social workers, occupational therapists and clinical psychologists.