Have you seen "A Beautiful Mind?"

Russell Crowe's terrific portrayal of John Nash, a brilliant mathematician who suffered from schizophrenia during graduate school at Princeton, has raised many questions among students about schizophrenia and depression.

Is schizophrenia really like what they showed?

The depiction of schizophrenia was quite good.

The paranoia and delusions (or fixed false beliefs) are very common, although visual hallucinations like Nash had are less common than auditory hallucinations (hearing "voices").

How common is it?

Schizophrenia occurs in about 1 percent of the population.

It is not unusual for schizophrenia to show up during graduate school or even college years.

It is slightly more common in men and the average age of onset is the 20s.

Aren't there better treatments now for schizophrenia?

The treatments Nash received (thorazine and insulin shock) represent the treatment available in the 1950s. Insulin shock, however, is no longer used.

It was similar to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), except ECT is done under general anesthesia, so that the body does not convulse as Nash's did in the movie.

The good news about mental illness is that there is always ongoing research into causes and treatments.

New, more effective and better-tolerated medications for schizophrenia have become available in the past ten years.

These include clozapine (Clozaril), risperidone (Risperdal), olanzapine (Zyprexa) and quetiapine (Seroquel).

What about depression?

One mental illness that we see more often at the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services is major depressive disorder.

It occurs twice as often in women (up to 25 percent lifetime prevalence) than men. Like schizophrenia, the average age of onset is the mid-20s.

Both schizophrenia and major depressive disorder tend to run genetically in families and to be influenced by psychosocial and environmental factors.

How is depression treated?

The two main treatments for depression are psychotherapy and medication.

For mild to moderate depression, psychotherapy might be effective alone. For moderate to severe depression, medication combined with psychotherapy produces the best results.

Pharmaceutical companies are continually studying and releasing new medications that work on the neurotransmitter balance.

The studies focus mainly on the neurotransmitter balance in areas of the brain that are responsible for mood, motivation, sleep and other areas typically affected by depression.

Although none are perfect for everyone or free of side effects, you can work with your doctor to find one drug or a combination of medications that work well for you with minimal or no side effects.

Some of these newer drugs includefluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), citalopram (Celexa) and the drug venlafaxine (Effexor).

Bottom line -- mental illness is very treatable and the treatments are getting better all the time!

If you are suffering from distressing thoughts and feelings (with or without trouble functioning), please seek help. Call your family doctor, University Health Services at 863-0774 or CAPS at 863-0395.