Have you been told that you have a psychiatric or mental illness like depression, bipolar disorder or manic depression, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dissociative disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, an eating disorder or an anxiety disorder?

Do any of the following feelings or experiences make you feel miserable or get in the way of doing the things you want to do most or all of the time?

feeling like your life is hopeless and you are worthless

wanting to end your life

thinking you are so great that you are world famous, or that you can do supernatural things

feeling anxious

being afraid of common things like going outdoors or indoors, or of being seen in certain places

feeling like something bad is going to happen and being afraid of everything

being very “shaky,” nervous, continually upset and irritable

having a hard time controlling your behavior

being unable to sit still

doing things over and over again—finding it very hard to stop doing things like washing your hands, counting everything or collecting things you don’t need

doing strange or risky things – like wearing winter clothes in the summer and summer clothes in the winter, or driving too fast

believing unusual things – like that the television or radio are talking to you, or that the smoke alarms or digital clocks in public buildings are taking pictures of you

saying things over and over that don’t make any sense

hearing voices in your head

seeing things you know aren’t really there

feeling as if everyone is against you or out to get you

feeling out of touch with the world

having periods of time go by when you don’t know what has happened or how the time has passed — you don’t remember being there but others say you were

feeling unconnected to your body

having an unusually hard time keeping your mind on what you are doing

a sudden or gradual decrease or increase in your ability to think, focus, make decisions and understand things

feeling like you want to cut yourself or hurt yourself in another physical way

If you answered “yes” to the first question or answered "yes" to any of these experiences, this booklet is for you. It is designed to offer helpful information and suggest things you can do to feel better.