American Psychiatric Association

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is a USA professional organization responsible for the DSM publication and represent psychiatrists. It is commonly confused with the American Psychological Association.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is a scientific and professional organization that represents psychiatrists in the United States. The American Psychiatric Association publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, commonly known as the DSM. The newest publication is the DSM-5, which is currently available in book format. Minor updates to the DSM-5 will be numbered 5.1, 5.2, etc...

The American Psychiatric Association is commonly confused with the American Psychological Association (whose website is http://www.apa.org). To avoid confusion, in this website we use APA to refer to the American Psychiatric Association only. Founded in 1844, is the world’s largest psychiatric organization and represents more than 35,000 psychiatrists. The APA states that "Its member physicians work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorders, including intellectual disabilities and substance use disorders. APA is the voice and conscience of modern psychiatry."

What is the Difference Between a Psychiatrist and Psychologist?
"A psychiatrist is a medical doctor with special training in psychiatry who is able to conduct psychotherapy and prescribe medications and other medical treatments.' Psychiatry is a medical specialty." "A psychologist usually has an advanced degree, most commonly in clinical psychology, and often has extensive training in research. Psychologists treat mental disorders with psychotherapy and some specialize in psychological testing and evaluation.'"

The role of psychiatrists
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental health, including substance use disorders. After medical school psychiatrists do a four-year residency. Psychiatrists are qualified to assess both the mental and physical aspects of psychological disturbance. A psychiatrist has completed medical school (is an M.D. or D.O.) and an additional four or more years of residency training in psychiatry. Most psychiatrists then choose to become a to become a "board certified" psychiatrist by taking a voluntary written and oral examination, re-certifying every ten years.

Treatments offered by psychiatrist can include psychotherapy (sometimes called talk therapy, or therapy), psychiatric medications, to help correct imbalances in brain chemistry that are thought to be involved in some mental disorders, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) (a medical treatment that involves applying electrical currents to the brain, is used for severe and treatment-resistant depression only) and light therapy (for seasonal depression). Newer treatments being used include deep brain stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation are a few of the newer therapies being used to treat some mental disorders.

External Link

 * http://www.psychiatry.org