Mental Health Resources for the Public

• The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has a informational booklets on a wide variety of mental health disorders including ones specific to childhood and adolescence. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) also has high quality booklets. 
• Medline Plus, a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is an online library. Going a step further than short booklets, it offers a numerous links to information about major mental health problems. There is a separate section for alcohol and drug problems.
  
• Visit the American Psychological Association's Help Center for short articles on a variety of mental health topics including issues related work and school, family and relationships, health and emotional wellness, disasters and terrorism, and managed health care and insurance.
  

• For Your Peace of Mind: A Consumer Guide to Psychological Services. The California Board of Psychology publishes an excellent booklet that gives an overview of how psychologists are trained, what services they provide, how to choose a psychologist, your rights as a patient, and how file a complaint.
• Professional Therapy Never Includes Sex. No mental health professional should engage in a sexual relationship with patients for any reason. The California Board of Psychology publishes an excellent booklet on what to do if this has happened to you.
• Psychotherapies. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) describes different kinds of psychotherapy.
• There are also several books on how to get the most out of psychotherapy.
  

• The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) publishes a friendly overview of different kinds of psychiatric medications.
  
• Medline Plus, a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is an online library and includes an encylopedia of medications.
  
• This webpage by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has information about specific medications.