Although anxiety is a commonly experienced emotion, excessive and irrational anxiety begins to interfere with daily functioning. Nearly 37 million Americans are diagnosed with anxiety disorder, which makes it the most common mental disorder in the U.S. Anxiety appears to be caused by a combination of factors, including genetic, biological and psychological. Treatment of anxiety focuses on a combination of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy.

Over 34 million Americans suffer from mental illness, yet most don't get treatment. Learn how to recognize a problem and what to do about it.

Psychoanalysis is one of the therapeutic techniques used by psychotherapists to evaluate and treat a patient's behavioral disturbances. The core theories of psychoanalysis are credited to the Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud. This article reviews the basic principles of psychoanalysis and its role in evaluation and treatment of mental disorder.