<unk> , or biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the<unk>  function of the nervous system. It is interdisciplinary in its approach and draws on sciences such as neuroscience, psychopharmacology, biochemistry, genetics and physiology to form theories about the<unk>  bases of behaviour and psychopathology.
While there is some overlap between<unk>  and neurology, the latter generally focuses on disorders where gross or visible pathology of the nervous system is apparent, such as epilepsy, cerebral palsy, encephalitis, neuritis, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. There is some overlap with neuropsychiatry, which typically deals with behavioural disturbance in the context of apparent brain disorder.<unk>  and other approaches to mental illness are not mutually exclusive, but may simply attempt to deal with the phenomena at different levels of explanation. Because of the focus on the<unk>  function of the nervous system, however,<unk>  has been particularly important in developing and prescribing drug-based treatments for mental disorder.
In practice, however, psychiatrists may advocate both medication and psychological therapies when treating mental illness. The therapy is more likely to be conducted by clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, occupational therapists or other mental health workers who are more specialised and trained in non-drug approaches.
The history of the field extends back to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates,  but the term<unk>  was first used in peer-reviewed scientific literature in 1953. The term is more commonly used in the US than in some other countries such as the UK.  The field, however, is not without its critics and the phrase<unk> " is sometimes used by those critics as a term of disparagement.
Biological psychiatry
Dynamic psychiatry
Affective neuroscience
Suicide Pharmacotherapy
Cross-cultural psychiatry
Neuropsychiatry
Drug rehabilitation
Cognitive neuropsychiatry