Psychiatry is an area of medicine focused on the study, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders.  These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions.

The common complaint of mental health problems are panic attacks, frightening hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, or hearing "voices." There may be more long-term conditions, such as feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or anxiousness that never seem to go away or problems functioning, causing everyday life to feel distorted or out of control.

The combined treatment of psychiatric medication and psychotherapy has become the most common mode of psychiatric treatment in current practice depending on the severity of functional impairment or on other aspects of the disorder. Hospitalization may also be needed in severe cases.