Dr. Jess Zonana, MD

Collectively, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health issues diagnosed in the United States -- even more common than depression. Women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with anxiety, and it is extremely common for a person with anxiety to have another illness at the same time, such as depression, a physical illness, or substance abuse.

Treatment for anxiety usually involves medication and psychotherapy together. Medications used may include antidepressants (which also work for anxiety), anti-anxiety medications, or beta blockers (which can be used to control the physical symptoms of anxiety). Psychotherapy can be useful to teach patients new ways of thinking and reacting so that they can manage their feelings of worry and fear. Support groups can also be very effective for anxiety, and they can be a form of treatment themselves for social phobias. Stress management, relaxation techniques, and meditation all help reduce feelings of anxiety or of being out of control. Finally, having a strong support network of family and friends is an excellent way to help manage the difficulties of life with anxiety.

The use of therapy is extremely common, with millions of people going through therapy each year in the United States alone. It can be useful for patients who want to learn coping skills when they are facing difficult issues or need to heal from past trauma. Therapy can also be a support tool when patients are facing stressful periods in their life. Essentially, therapy is helpful any time life events require more mental or emotional resources than a patient currently has. Change is a major theme of therapy, offering a supportive environment for patients to make changes to their life or themselves so that past problems stop recurring in the future.

There are several different types of psychotherapy, with the most common being cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. This type of therapy focuses on the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, is a form of CBT that encourages acceptance and validation as well as change. Interpersonal therapy focuses on relationships and communication as a pathway to feeling better. Psychoanalysis, an older form of therapy invented by Sigmund Freud, teaches that all problems stem from the unconscious.

Although many people see therapists by themselves, not all psychotherapy is one-on-one. For example, in family therapy, the therapist treats a family as a unit. Patients can also participate in group therapy, where they meet as a group to work on issues.

Psychotherapy is a safe, powerful healing tool that can help patients lead happier and healthier lives. However, therapy is a joint effort between the patient and the therapist. Both need to work together in order for therapy to be effective.

A comprehensive psychiatric evaluation is necessary to identify this illness, and one of the top criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia is that at least some of the symptoms listed above have to be present for a minimum of six months. The causes of schizophrenia are unclear, but studies have linked it to genetics, abnormalities in brain structure, and immune disorders. It has also been found to affect men and women equally, with onset typically occurring earlier in men.

Although there is no cure for schizophrenia, some treatments can help people manage their disease. For example, physicians may prescribe antipsychotics which are a group of medications that can reduce symptoms. Patients can also learn useful coping skills and get emotional support by regularly taking part in individual talk therapy and having family members participate in group therapy sessions.