ABSTRACT
Psychiatry is more intimately involved with the law than any other medical specialty. There is no Gynaecological Health Act nor Orthopaedic Review Tribunal to match those for mental health. Only the psychiatrist is empowered to deprive a patient of his freedom, albeit under strict legal conditions. Most important of all, psychiatry has an input in all other areas of medicine. Examples are the emotional impact of a diagnosis of cancer, or the psychological reaction to a hysterectomy or a heart attack. The severity of such reactions ranges from the trivial to the crippling.
