Whats the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist?
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A psychologist is someone who makes observations and studies on specific mental conditions to find a cure or connection. A psychiatrist is someone who uses those studies to help or cure someone.
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A psychiatrist is a Medical Doctor, and can prescribe medications.\n\nA psychologist may have a doctorate, but is not a doctor, and cannot prescribe medications.
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They both diagnose an illness.  You should always see both though for effective treatment.  A psychiatrist will more apt to run tests--physical and mental ones.  They go by what you tell them is going on in your life and how you are feeling.  They will both probably encourage you to get some blood work done to check your thyroid and sugar levels, to see if that is possibly a problem. Those cause you to be imbalanced majorly, so they will want to rule that out before going for the medicine.  And yes, only a doctor/psychiatrist can order those tests.
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One is trained to deal with mental disorders as well as reg. things and the other is ony trained or deals with reg. things...\n\nJust like Pdocs are reg doctors but are further trained in mental disorders... while reg family docs can deal with depression but not as well as a pdoc...
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Absolutely yes.  Depression responds very well to correct treatment.  This may or may not include medication.  \n\nCorrect treatment is cognitive behavioral done by a Licensed Clinical Psychologist.  A Licensed Clinical Psychologist is someone with a PhD in Clinical Psychology or a Doctor of Psychology who has taken your state's licensure exam and now has the right to use this legally protected term.  These (and only these) are the people qualified to do therapy.  Most others who are definitely not qualified, use various unprotected terms like therapist or psychotherapist.  These people can't help you and may make you worse out of sheer ignorance.  Go to the correct professional to get treated.  They will use treatments proven through experimental research to help people like you (with a high efficacy rate I might add).  Medication should be managed by a Psychiatrist (not a primary care doctor). A Psychiatrist is an MD who specializes in the treatment of mental illness, mostly through medication.  Treatment with these types of medications require alot of specialized knowledge in order to be done correctly.  Although a primary care MD (ie your family doctor) is well within his scope to treat you with these, he really doesn't have the training or experience to do this effectively.  If you have serious depression like you would if you experience anhedonia, you really need the help of both a Psychiatrist and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist.  The two together can help you.
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Psychlogists analyse people characteristics and behaviour
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I'm not one, but know a couple.  I'm not understanding whether or not you are already in medical school, or if you're younger, and have little knowledge of the field.\n\nA psychiatrist must be an MD first.  That means medical school, internship, the whole works.  It takes a very long time to get your credentials.  A psychiatrist can perform operations on patients, as well as counsel and prescribe.\n\nIf you are not about to become an MD, but want to help people with problems, you might consider looking into psychology.  As a psychologist, you would not be an MD, and not allowed to prescribe medication.  You would major in psychology in college, and need to get a masters degree, and possibly more.  A lot of work, but rewarding.\n\nI would not have answered this question if I thought any psychiatrists were actually on this site.  Although, you never know...  Good luck.
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Psychiatrist; Psychiatry; Psychiatric. (it is easier to research when you use proper spelling).\n\nYou might interview one, though their fees are pretty high. \nYou might research how the field began.\nYou might visit an institution for the mentally ill, or an outpatient counselling center & talk to some people.\nYou might google jobs for psychiatrist.\nPsychiatrists are first MDs (doctors), and are able to prescribe medication. Some work in psychiatric institutions. Some do research. Some work for the military. Some counsel patients. \nGood luck!!\n\nhere are some websites to get you started:
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A psycologist treat your mind with talking and listening.  The psychiatrist treat your mind with listening and pills.
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Phaedra is correct.  All your other respondents are wrong.  \n\nThere's no such thing as a Psychiatry degree for an undergraduate.  Psychiatry is a specialty pursued AFTER you get your M.D. in med school, which is AFTER your B.S. degree in college.  Med school typically takes three years and a psychiatry residency typically takes seven or eight years, the longest of all the medical specialties.\n\nIf, by some chance, you actually meant Psychologist and not Psychiatrist, then I've never heard of a college that did NOT offer that degree.  However, most states require that you have at least a Master's degree in it before you are allowed to hang out your shingle and call yourself a Psychologist.
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As you already know, a psychiatrist prescribes medication.  They are trained in medicine (diagnosis and pharmacological treatment).  They are like any other doctor.  They see patients, listen for a little bit, write prescriptions, and then send the patient on his/her way.  Most psychiatrists do not do therapy as they are not usually trained in psychological theory.  I haven't met the best psychiatrists.  The psychiatrists I've known have been arrogant, yet not too bright.  They made up their own diagnoses and never valued the rest of the treatment teams opinion.  \n\nA psychologist is either a PhD or PsyD who is trained in psychological theory (causes of mental illness, human development, schools of thought, statistics/research, etc), diagnosis (diagnosing by interview, psychological test administration and interpretation), and treatment (cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic theories, family therapy, health psychology, etc).  So, psychologists do consulting, therapy, testing, research, and more.  Most psychologists cannot prescribe medications.  There are a couple of states that have a shortage of psychiatrists.  In these states, psychologists can train to receive prescribing privileges.
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A psychiatric evaluation involves an interview with a mental health professional, usually some psychological testing (pencil and paper), and data from any other relavent informants (like spouse or parents). The format of the report is to describe the patient's strengths and weaknesses, diagnoses, and recommendations for treatment.
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An existetialist psychologist.\nLook here:
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A Psychiatrist or Psychologist, Doctors themselves, would ask Why are YOU getting so mad at Doctors?\n\nPeace.
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Psychologist: studied psychology, i.e. how the mind works\nPsychiatrist: studied medicine, i.e. how the brain works\n\nIf problems are caused by a chemical inbalance then a psychiatrist would be the person to talk to. If it's a more diffuse illness then a psychologist is the person to see.\n\nTherapist: anyone who thinks he knows anything about helping people- this is not a trademark and does not require any education.\nShrink: same as therapist
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While all physicians will encounter patients with mental illnesses and any of them may treat it, psychiatrists specialize in these areas. They are more extensively trained in the differential diagnosis (the distinguishing of various forms) and treatment of mental illness. Given the advantage of the preliminary medical training as well as further specialist training, psychiatry when practiced properly offers a truly holistic approach to patient care. Many other professionals also provide mental health care, such as psychologists, nurse practitioners, counselors, physician assistants, and social workers. In general only doctors, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants may prescribe mental health medication in the United States[1]. In some countries, mental health medication may only be prescribed by medical doctors.
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Well, some psychiatrists do not follow Sigmund Freud, who tried to "explain away" belief in God(s) as a type of mental illness.\n\nJungian psychology might be compatible with some psychiatrists' personal beliefs.\n\nOthers may prefer other schemata.\n\nAs another reply said, psychiatrists are people, too, with tastes and thoughts and personal needs etc.