It is the study of treatment of mental disorders. Mental disorders are conceptualized as failures of brain circuits caused by development processes shaped by a complex interplay of genetics and experience. The treatment starts with a medical status examination and thereafter the case history of the patient is compiled. Psychological tests and examinations may be conducted using neuro-imaging and neuropsychological techniques. This term was first coined by German Scientist Johann Christian Reil, in 1808. Psychiatry means the medical treatment of the mind. In the words of Henry Stack Sullivan, “There is no fun in psychiatry. If you try to get fun out of it, you pay a considerable price for your unjustifiable optimism.” Someone who deals in psychiatry is called a psychiatrist.
