Pursuing a Career in Psychiatry The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the human population today is alarmingly high. For instance, major depression afflicts ten to twenty-five percent of women and five to twelve percent of men in their lifetime. Along with that, twenty-five percent of the population suffers from anxiety disorders and the same percentage suffer from some form of substance abuse. The fact is, however, that these statistics do not even begin to cover the myriad of psychiatric disorders found in the world today. These startling rates bring in the increasing need for psychiatrists. Psychiatrists are medical specialists that are specially trained in medical schoo