Another term for psychiatry; coined by Adolf Meyer who was a Psychiatrist Physician concerned with the study, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the mind including psychosis, behavioral disorders, emotional maladjustments and other mental problems.

Adolf Meyer, M.D., LL.D., (September 13, 1866 in Niederweningen, near Zurich, Switzerland - March 17, 1950), was a Swiss psychiatrist who rose to prominence as the president of the American Psychiatric Association and was one of the most influential figures in psychiatry in the first half of the twentieth century.

His focus on collecting detailed case histories on patients is the most prominent of his contributions; along with his insistence that patients could best be understood through consideration of their life situations.