Psychiatric Social Work

Psychiatry turned to social work for help in the study of human behaviour just as social work turned to psychiatry for help with baffling attitudes and behaviour problems. Psychiatric social work is a specialized field of social work practicum and a branch of social casework introduced long ago. Due to the distinctiveness of psychiatric illness, a specialized component of social work was developed to deal with mental illness patients. The primary purpose of psychiatric social work is to deal with patients suffering from mental illness and to promote mental health. This was stated in the early nineteen century in the USA after they felt the importance of psycho-social intervention to deal with such patients. However, in recent years, kaleidoscopic changes have occurred in content, practice, and training methods. The requirement for professionals has increased due to its demanding necessity. There has been outstanding progress in this field in the last few decades. The profession focusses not only on rehabilitation but also on the prevention of mental illness and promotion of mental health.