Neuropsychiatrists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Doctors who combine training in neurology and psychiatry to diagnose and treat conditions affecting both the brain and the mind
2. Medical specialists trained to address the overlap between nervous system disorders and mental health problems in their patients
3. Physicians who work at the intersection of brain disease and psychiatric illness, treating disorders of thought, mood and neural function

Etymology: "Neuropsychiatrists" is the plural of "neuropsychiatrist", a compound built from the combining form "neuro-" and "psychiatrist." The first part comes from Greek "neuron," meaning sinew or nerve, a sense that gave modern science its word for the nervous system. The second part traces to Greek "psykhē," meaning soul or mind, joined to "-iatros," a healer, so a psychiatrist is literally a healer of the mind. Joining the two halves produced a term for clinicians who work where neurology and psychiatry meet, treating conditions in which a physical disorder of the brain or nerves and a mental health problem appear together. The compound follows the pattern of many modern medical terms, assembled from classical elements to name a specialty that the older fields did not separately cover.