Recovering Your Mental Health - Taking a Look at Yourself

Table of Contents

1. Foreword
2. Introduction
3. Taking A Look At Yourself
4. Things To Remember
5. What To Do If Your Symptoms Are Very Serious
6. Getting Health Care
7. Your Health Care Rights
8. Using Medications
9. Additional Things You Can Do Right Away to Help Yourself Feel Better
10. Things To Do When You Are Feeling Better To Keep Yourself Well
11. Further Resources

Taking a Look at Yourself

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.

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