Is psychiatry hard? do you have to deal with crazy people, do they threaten/hurt you? (interested in the field but parents are worried)

Motivation for field: In medicine, and especially psychiatry, you deal with all kinds of people, and their mental states. In fact, most of them are not crazy as outpatients, and more than likely potentially depressed, anxious, frustrated, and in need of help. So if you're a people person, empathetic, and nonjudgmental, and can see all sides, and factors that can interplay on a persons mood, emotions, lifestyle, psychiatry may be for you.

Psychiatry: Psychiatry is sometimes hard, but mostly very fulfilling. Sometimes people are unhappy about seeing you; most are glad to work with you. Yes, you deal with some overtly psychotic people. Every one of us has some degree of "crazy" (distorted) thinking -- so we're all more human than otherwise! very few psychiatric patients threaten or harm others; some do, and you must assess situations carefully.

Special skill needed: Psychiatry is a field which deals with persons that have behavioral, emotional & problems of thinking. Psychiatry requires many years of training & because you deal with persons differing in severity of mental illness. Your appropriate training is used to speak & understand pt.'s. & to use caution. Rarely do you get threatened/hurt. Even if sometimes yuo deal with very impaired pts.

TOO MUCH CONCERN: I HAVE BEEN A BOARD CERTIFIED PSYCHIATRIST IN CLINICAL PRACTICE SINCE 1970, AND I HAVE NOT BEEN ASSAULTED OR HARMED. THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT AREAS IN PSYCHIATRY AND DANGER IS NOT A NECESSARY PART OF THE PRACTICE.

Psychiatry is: practiced in a number of settings. Some do involve dealing with dangerous people while others do not. We are basically dealing with people who have problems either as a result of biochemistry or emotional difficulties or a combination of the two.

Never Boring: Depends on what you mean by hard. My experience is your early years in training (medical school & residency), you see more severely ill patients since many training settings are inpatient psych wards. But once you graduate, you can select your patients by specializing in certain areas. I treat kids and adults in private practice and have never felt threatend and certainly never hurt.

Depends you like: Psychiatry is not hard if you like what you do. It needs patience and think what is the appropriate things to say to your patients. If you can help your patients including the "crazy" ones, treat their conditions, you would feel good about yourself and no one wants to hurt you.

Hard but fulfilling: Psychiatry is challenging and may entail risks, but part of your training will be to recognize red flags and learn ways to de-escalate and help patients in the process. Also, while some patients may be threatening because of underlying illness, most are calm and cooperative. Your area of sub specialization within psychiatry may determine the type of patients you see.

Yes but…: Psychiatry is challenging and rewarding. It is a science and an art at the same time. Touching lives in the intimate ways we do should be considered a privilege. My patients let me into their inner world of thoughts and feelings and I have opportunities to interpret, reframe, soothe pain. An honor in my opinion. Sometimes there are risks. Risks are everywhere. Take proper precautions and enjoy!