What Is Involved in Psychiatric Analysis?

A psychiatric analysis is an evaluation of an individual to see if he fits known diagnostic features of a variety of mental illnesses. This is often undertaken to determine if there are psychiatric treatments, such as electroconvulsive therapy or medications, which might be useful in addressing the patient’s problem. Analysis may then include ongoing care of individuals to determine if they are responding to recommended treatments or require a different approach. This term should be differentiated from psychological analysis, which might refer to psychodynamic therapy or the process of diagnosis without patient care.

In the US, most mental health clinicians who are diagnosticians, i.e., social workers, psychologists, therapists or psychiatrists, use the same diagnostic standards in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual® (DSM®). In Europe, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) may be used more frequently, but the two sources often agree. Any clinician begins learning how to diagnose in school and by the time she treats patients, she should be able to render a diagnosis based on the patient’s reported or observable symptoms.

Psychiatric analysis takes this one step further as it offers the ability to recommend medical treatments that are only available by prescription. Most other clinicians must refer patients with conditions that will benefit from psychiatric medication to a psychiatrist for further assistance. The psychiatrist does not need this referral, and can direct the client to treatment and keep up an ongoing analysis of results based on observation and patient report.

It’s thus possible to view psychiatric analysis as a process involving several steps. The first of these is diagnosis, which is usually achieved through observation of a patient and conversation with him. Some parts of diagnosis usually include taking a mental status examination to determine if the patient is homicidal or suicidal, or displaying other pronounced psychological symptoms. The psychiatrist then analyzes this data to achieve a diagnosis and makes recommendations for treatment.

Analysis is both a product and a process. Over time, as a patient is treated, his symptoms may change. The best treatment for the condition can change, too, depending on the patient’s response.

Early psychiatric analysis is often imperfect and it may take more than one session of evidence gathering to determine the most effective treatment with the fewest side effects. Psychiatrists also routinely take into account that not all treatments are affordable for all patients and that the instability of some illnesses can create poor continuity of care. Thus, psychiatric analysis is not just the first diagnosis and recommendation, but an ongoing process for many patients and their psychiatrists.

Sometimes the term psychiatric analysis may apply to different settings. There are some individuals who diagnose patients without meeting them, and base their analysis on only the evidence gathered. Sometimes these analyses are applied to historical figures, but forensic psychiatrists might also do this type of work in court settings.

To confuse matters, not all psychiatrists perform exactly the same work. Some offer therapy and medication management, others work in hospitals where they may meet patients only once or twice. A few psychiatrists do work as “analysts,” which today might be more closely associated with Jungian psychotherapy as opposed to medication management. These are the exceptions to the definition rather than the rule. Most often, psychiatric analysis is the evaluation of data to diagnose and treat.