Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is the most common type of psychotherapy used for the treatment of various emotional disorders and mental illnesses. In many cases, it is part of a treatment plan that also includes medication. CBT may be used to treat the following conditions:

• Major depression. A severe depression that occurs suddenly or gradually and usually lasts several months. It generally requires clinical observation and treatment.
  
  
• Bipolar disorder. A condition that is characterized by alternating periods of mania (episode of great excitability) and depression.
  
  
• Anxiety disorders. Emotional disorders characterized by a debilitating and disruptive anxiety that can interfere with a patient’s daily activities. Types of anxiety disorders include:
  
• • Panic disorder. A condition in which a person regularly experiences panic attacks - sudden episodes of fear and anxiety that usually last for between 10 and 30 minutes and cause symptoms such as a racing heartbeat, heavy perspiration and shortness of breath.
    
    
  • Phobias. Extremely strong and irrational fears of things, people, places, experiences or situations.
    
    
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A disorder that occurs in patients who have persistent thoughts that they cannot control (obsessions) and/or perform certain actions repeatedly (compulsions).
    
    
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). An anxiety disorder that involves feelings of intense fear, helplessness or horror brought on by experiencing or witnessing an especially traumatic event.
    
    
• Eating disorders. These involve serious disturbances in eating behavior including unhealthy reduction of food intake (anorexia nervosa), severe overeating and/or dangerous methods to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting (bulimia nervosa).
  
  
• Schizophrenia. A complex and disabling psychiatric disorder that impacts a person’s ability to distinguish between real and imaginary experiences, think logically, have normal emotional responses and behave appropriately in social situations. Schizophrenia is usually treated with medications first. With CBT, patients can learn how to monitor the reality of their thoughts and perceptions, how to ignore auditory hallucinations and how to cope with apathy that can be immobilizing.
  
  
• Borderline personality disorder (BPD). A condition that causes patients to have periods of unstable emotions that seriously affect their lives.
  
  
• Insomnia. The inability to sleep for a reasonable amount of time to maintain adequate restfulness.
  
  
• Relationship problems (e.g., marital problems).
  
  
• Substance abuse. The chronic use of a substance, usually alcohol or drugs (e.g., marijuana), which alters mood or behavior and causes significant impairment in an individual’s life.
  
  
• Impulse control disorders. These include trichotillomania (condition marked by the constant and compulsive pulling of the hair), pyromania and compulsive gambling.

Other uses for CBT, such as treating chronic lower back pain, chronic headache and irritable bowel syndrome (condition in which the large intestine operates improperly), are also being studied. In addition, researchers are currently investigating its efficacy in helping women overcome stress-related infertility.