Medication

• Typically clients will be referred to a psychiatrist by their therapist in order to be evaluated for medication. Psychiatrists prescribe psychotropic drugs to help clients cope with mental illness.
  
  

Training

• Psychiatrists have a medical degree and spend at least four years in residency studying neurology and psychiatry.
  
  

Assessment

• Psychiatrists perform a detailed assessment during the first session to find out about patients' medical histories, family, habits and reason for seeking treatment.
  
  

Mental Illness

• Psychiatrists treat a variety of mental illnesses such as depression, eating disorders, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia.
  
  

Father of American Psychiatry

• Benjamin Rush is known as the Father of American Psychiatry. He was a physician who believed that patients with mental illness were having a problem with their mind, rather than being demon possessed.