Plastic surgeons are often confronted with psychiatric patients seeking aesthetic surgery. It is imperative for surgeons to recognize underlying psychiatric illnesses and to acknowledge their influence over patient motives and judgment. It is the goal of this paper to present the defining characteristics of the major psychiatric disorders as illustrated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, in a manner that will allow plastic surgeons to incorporate and utilize this information in daily practice. It is the authors' hope that this paper will assist plastic surgeons in ultimately preventing patient dissatisfaction within the population of patients with psychiatric disorders.