Psychiatry (Abingdon). 2009 Nov 01;8(11):448-452. doi: 10.1016/j.mppsy.2009.08.003.
Psychiatry (Abingdon, England)
Kerim M Munir
PMID: 20161399 PMCID: PMC2783619 DOI: 10.1016/j.mppsy.2009.08.003
Although psychiatry in the United States owes its origins to the treatment of persons with intellectual disabilities (ID), over the past 50 years, clinical services, education of professionals and research in psychiatry of ID have consistently lagged behind other fields in psychiatry. The historical and contemporary reasons for this development are discussed with recommendations for establishment of a fully credentialed subspecialty of Psychiatry of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in the United States.