What Is the Most Common Diagnosis Psychiatrists See in Adult Patients Today?

Summary: The most common diagnosis psychiatrists see in patients today is anxiety, while the most common mental health disorder diagnosed in patients today is major depressive disorder (MDD).

Key Points:

(Source: 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health)

• 58.7 million adults 18+ had a diagnosis for any mental illness (AMI)
  • 54% received treatment
• 4.6 million had a diagnosis for serious mental illness (SMI)
  • 71% received treatment
• 21.9 million adults 18+ had a major depressive episode (MDE), i.e. major depressive disorder (MDD) in 2023
  • 66.7% received treatment
• 15.3 million reported MDE with severe impairment
  • 70.1% received treatment

Diagnosis and Treatment: What Do Psychiatrists Diagnose and Treat Most Often?

While increasing awareness about mental health disorders, diagnosis, and treatment gradually reduces stigma and increases rates of mental health treatment nationwide, many people – with or without a direct experience of mental health disorders or diagnosis – are curious about the disorders and diagnoses treated most often by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, such as psychologists or counselors.

To answer this question, we collected data from three sources:

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5)
• Mental Disorders Most Frequently Treated by Psychologists
• Commonly Diagnosed Mental Disorders in a General Hospital System

We’ll share the relevant information from these sources in order, beginning with prevalence rates reported by the DSM-V upon publication in 2022.

DSM-V: Rates of Clinical Diagnosis, Adults 18+, By Category

1. Mood disorders:

• • • Major depressive disorder: 20.6%

2. Anxiety disorders:

• • • Specific phobia: 19.3%

3. Social anxiety disorder: 12.1%

• • • Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): 5.7%
    • Panic disorder (PD): 4.7%
    • Agoraphobia: 4.0%

4. Trauma-related disorders:

• • • Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): 6.8%

5. Personality disorders:

• • • Borderline personality disorder (BPD): 5.9%

6. Other disorders:

• • • Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (adults): 2.8%
    • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): 2.5%
    • Bipolar disorder I&II: 2.1%
    • Binge eating disorder: 2.1%
    • Bulimia nervosa: 1.5%
    • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): 1.5%
    • Anorexia nervosa: 0.8%
    • Schizophrenia/psychotic disorders: 0.7%
    • Dissociative identity disorder: 0.5%

That’s the list of the most commonly diagnosed disorders. Now let’s take a look at a the results of a survey of working psychologists, conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA), about the diagnoses they treat frequently and the diagnoses they rarely treat.

Here’s the data, published in the 2018 report “Mental Disorders Most Frequently Treated by Psychologists”:

Top 15 Mental Health Disorders Psychologists Treat

1. Anxiety: 85% treat frequently, 15% treat rarely
2. Depressive disorders: 84% treat frequently, 16% treat rarely
3. Trauma and stressor-related: 57% treat frequently, 43% treat rarely
4. Personality disorders: 32% treat frequently, 68% treat rarely
5. Substance related disorders: 30% treat frequently, 70% treat rarely
6. Conduct/impulse control/disruptive disorders: 29% treat frequently, 71% treat rarely
7. Bipolar disorders: 28% treat frequently, 72% treat rarely
8. Obsessive-compulsive disorders: 24% treat frequently, 76% treat rarely
9. Neurocognitive disorders: 20% treat frequently, 80% treat rarely
10. Somatic disorders: 20% treat frequently, 80% treat rarely
11. Sleep disorders: 16% treat frequently, 84% treat rarely
12. Neurodevelopmental disorder (autism spectrum, for example): 16% treat frequently, 84% treat rarely
13. Schizophrenia/psychotic disorders: 9% treat frequently, 91% treat rarely
14. Feeding/eating disorders: 9% treat frequently, 91% treat rarely
15. Other mental/behavioral disorders treated frequently by 8% or less of psychologists: sexual dysfunction/disorders, dissociative identity disorder, gender dysphoria

We find this report informative for two primary reasons. First, the difference between the frequency of diagnosis and frequency of treatment for depression and anxiety is interesting. While clinicians diagnose depression more often, they treat people with anxiety most often. Second, the difference between the frequency of diagnosis and frequency of treatment for two additional disorders caught our attention. Clinicians diagnose posttraumatic stress disorder and personality disorders at rates below ten percent – 6.8 percent for PTSD and 5.9 for personality disorders – but treated them at significantly greater rates – 57 percent for PTSD and 32 percent for personality disorders.

We have one more set of data to share related to the most common diagnosis psychiatrists see, with data on the topic from a different type of source: public hospitals.

Mental Health in the Hospital: Most Common Diagnoses and Disorders

We’ll close this article with information from a different source. The study, “Commonly Diagnosed Mental Disorders in a General Hospital System,” conducted in Puerto Rico, analyzed rates of newly diagnosed mental health disorders among people receiving non-psychiatric health care for non-psychiatric reasons. We include this data for two reasons: one, as an ad-hoc check on the prevalence rates we report above, and two, in order to compare data from a cultural milieu that’s similar, but not identical, to that in the mainland U.S.

In this study, researchers collected data generated from standard evaluations of 5,494 patients between 2015 and 2019. Here’s a list of the psychiatrics diagnoses made, from most to least common:

1. Major depressive disorder (MDD): 43%
   • 70% recurring episodes
   • 9% with psychotic features
2. Neurocognitive disorders (NCD): 33%
   • Due to medical condition: 24.8%
   • Unspecified: 6.8%
3. Anxiety disorder: 11%
   • Generalized anxiety disorder: 72.5%
4. Substance-related: 8%
   • Alcohol: 48%
5. Schizophrenia spectrum disorders: 6%
   • Schizophrenia: 34.6%
   • Brief psychotic disorder: 6.7%

In this study, data showed that among all patients receiving mental health diagnoses, 99 percent of males and 95 percent of females had a chronic physical condition. Among those, 59 percent of males had a chronic physical condition and a mental health disorder, while 48 percent of females had a chronic physical condition and a mental health disorder.

The Most Common Diagnosis: Psychiatrists Can See and Understand Patient Needs

It’s true that for the most prevalent mental health diagnoses like depression and anxiety, many patients share a common set of symptoms and challenges. The frequency with which psychiatrists see patients with depression and anxiety improves their skill and ability at treating these diagnoses and enables them to draw on a wide range of experience to tailor care to each patient. While this can facilitate the treatment process and increase efficiency, it’s important for patients to know this fact:

Good psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists see each patient as an individual, with specific needs and goals. A therapist with decades of experience uses that knowledge not to go on cruise control, but to do the opposite. They drill down, understand symptoms in the individual in relation to their previous experience, and deliver care in a manner most appropriate for the patient in front of them right now.

Therefore, if you think you need help for mental health challenges, including those you see in the lists above, you can rest assured that you’re not alone and that millions of people before you have sought and received professional support from psychiatrists.

How to Find Support for the Most Common Diagnosis Psychiatrists See: Helpful Resources

If you or someone you know needs professional treatment and support for a mental health diagnosis, we can help:

Call us today for a Free Screening: (844) 763-55 

In addition, you can find support through the following online resources:

• The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): Find a Professional
• The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): Finding Treatment
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): Finding Help
• American Psychiatric Association (APA): Treatment Locator
• SAMHSA: Early Serious Mental Illness Treatment Locator