A support guide for mental illness diagnoses in the United States of America. If you are diagnosed with a mental illness, your process will be similar in this country. I’m not really familiar with personality disorders or how they compare, but for mental illness here is a survival kit for how to keep your sanity, your job, and your life in the process. Most likely you are younger in age. I am 40 years old and have been figuring out my life and how mental illness affected it since I was diagnosed in 2015 with psychotic disorder not-otherwise-specified (NOS). Your “official” resource guide is the diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM) 5 (V) which contains very abstract definitions of mental illnesses and other information.
Forward and notes
I am an engineer, not a mental health professional, who is diagnosed and experiences certain symptoms. It is from my own experience that I am posting this information. As such, while I take it to be as accurate as I can make it, it is possible things are misleading or inaccurate. I post this from my experience over the last 16 years having been diagnosed and worked with many mental health professionals over that time. I have spent much time in the state of Pennsylvania and their own healthcare system to post material. I have worked with psychiatrists, therapists, service coordinators, neurologists, psychologists, and others throughout my diagnosis, but I am not a professional, I am receiving treatment from these people, so this article is written in that context.
Is it an emergency?
As the saying goes, “if it’s an emergency, dial 9-1-1.” This guide presumes you’re not in an emergent situation and looking for support in ways which don’t need immediate intervention.
What defines a mental illness, in layman’s terms
A diagnosis of exclusion, meaning, the elimination of every other possible factor in why you experience the symptoms that you experience: this means excluding physical manifestations leading to symptoms. There are different kinds of diagnosis such as mood (affective) and personality disorders. Diagnosing a mental illness requires extra care when drugs are involved, and drugs usually preclude mental illness in the symptoms they produce.
Mental illness is different for every person
Although you may be diagnosed in some way, your symptoms will be hard to understand and confusing for yourself especially if you don’t understand how they affect you and what your diagnosis means. Relying on other people to diagnose mental illness is important because they notice things about your behavior that you may not (patterns, lack of awareness like forgetting things, development disorders like trouble learning, etc.).
What isn’t mental illness
Sometimes certain things are up to interpretation when it comes to a diagnosis. The Hearing Voices Network consists of a network of support groups for people who hear voices. While a psychiatrist might classify this as a hallucination, I mention this for two reasons. 1) Some people think that certain symptoms immediately preclude mental illness. Hallucinations are a symptom that everyone can experience. If a hallucination is caused by a drug (like marijuana), it would rule out a mental illness because drugs fall within the realm of something that could cause the symptom. 2) Hallucinations are not typically serious unless they are commanding and seriously lead you to harm. Although I hate the expression, the question often goes “Are you a harm to yourself or others?” Sometimes symptoms may exude behavior others might find “odd,” or “bizarre” but don’t harm us. To a psychiatrist, this is likely a reason to not diagnose.
A diagnosis is usually given when a particular disorder affects us in a way that appears to harm ourselves or others in a particular way.
How mental illness is treated
The primary tool is medication, the adjunct treatment is therapy. You’ll find most resources won’t come to you, you have to approach them. Ask for what you need from the right people to ask them from and remember: be assertive about it. There are parts to dealing with mental illness: 1) Acceptance, 2) Proactive approach to seeking and maintaining treatment. While remission is possible, the goal is to manage the disorder, not avoid it.
Social workers and service coordinators
Some states provide support for finding assistance with benefits programs. In Pennsylvania, find a service coordinator (social worker) who can help provide you with the resources you need. If you need help finding housing or applying for support, a service coordinator can guide you to help apply for services and social support like peers and scheduling doctor appointments.
What you should do if you can’t work or work enough
- Apply for Medicare (federal) and Medicaid (state) support. Medicare will provide you with social security disability (SSDI) which is health and hospital insurance and financial support if you’re unable to work and can also include optional drug cost coverage. Medicaid is similar, but it comes from the state you reside in. In some cases, you may be eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid assistance depending (likely) on your income. Rules for Medicaid vary by state, and is probably income based (Pennsylvania certainly is). Medicaid may entitle you to benefits other than simply health care and financial support, such as transportation to appointments and peer support. Remember that Medicare and Medicaid have renewal processes to track your health and circumstances. Generally these programs want to keep track of your health to verify that you are still qualified to receive them. Medicare reviews about every 5 years or so, and Medicaid in Pennsylvania seems to be (don’t quote me on this!) every year.
- Apply for programs like Dollar Energy Fund and customer assistance programs (CAP) to help pay utility bills. Low-income heating and energy program (LIHEAP) is also available to help pay utility bills. LIHEAP and programs like CAP will offer you support paying your bills through a grant. If you exceed the grant, you will have to pay the remainder, so CAP programs sometimes require an energy assessment to ensure your appliances are energy efficient. I had an energy assessment from Duquesne Light company and they even provided me with 5 free nightlights. CAP programs are available for water and sewer as well.
- Low-income phone service and internet is available too. Xfinity provides an internet essentials plan which offers a 75mbps download speed for $14.95/month with no contract. Phone service is available from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) like US Mobile or Consumer Cellular for $20-$30/month. I recommend buying a used, unlocked refurbished phone that is a few years old. If you buy a refurbished phone, make sure it supports eSIM to eliminate the need for a physical SIM card. It’s not likely that you will be travelling, but eSIM functionality means that your phone provider can send you a SIM electronically and set it up without having to mail you a SIM card and physically installing one.
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can provide you with an electronic balance transfer (EBT) card with a balance to buy groceries. While selection is limited to foods you can prepare at home and restricts meals from restaurants and other things like alcohol and tobacco, some states offer disabled individuals now the ability to use EBT cards at restaurants for people who can’t prepare their own food. This is available in select states and/or counties within those states due to a federal waiver of limitations in the SNAP program. With no income, as of June 2026, my EBT balance was $486 after applying. Note that SNAP will not pay for delivery fees on groceries, so if you use Wal-Mart delivery or Amazon Whole Foods to order groceries, you will have to pay the delivery charges with regular cash. Fortunately for me, Amazon now has a grocery service in my area which shipped frozen food to me and groceries by regular Amazon shipping. Although the selection is a bit limited, the prices were alright. The new Amazon grocery brand means generic foods are available. If you already have Amazon service, orders above a certain amount ship free.
- Public transportation offers individuals with disabilities reduced fare bus passes. In Pittsburgh, the half-fare cost for a month long bus pass is $48 and you can receive the half-fare card from the PRT service center downtown by paying the cost for a fare card and showing your Medicare card or having a signed letter from a doctor and a medical form clearly stating your disability. I have not looked into other bus systems than PRT, but public transportation is generally very accommodating to those who are disabled and need transportation … in terms of cost anyway
Transportation to doctor visits is available through Medicaid in Pennsylvania and is an option with certain Medicare insurance plans. Peers through Medicaid, or a blended service coordinator can sometimes provide transportation to other places such as grocery stores. Medical transport services are often available for those who are physical disabled and need assistance getting around.
Outreach programs
United Way offers a 2-1-1 line (phone number) in (some?) states to provide assistance with a variety of needs including housing and food related crisis.
In Pennsylvania, UPMC offers resources such as crisis centers with a variety of supports including service coordinators. In Pittsburgh, if you have a crisis, you can use UPMC Resolve’s mobile crisis team to get transportation to either UPMC Resolve or UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. UPMC Resolve is a crisis center for housing, mental health, and suicide crisis in Pittsburgh.
Support groups
NAMI
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides support groups and information on mental illness and what it is. NAMI support groups are specific to your state, so if you attend a virtual support group, make sure the group is located in the state you are currently in (usually this is the state you reside in). NAMI groups are more strict about what you can share in the group setting and more fair towards giving everyone time to speak. You are required to adhere to group rules and attend an entire session even when it is virtual.
Hearing Voices Network
The Hearing Voices Network was originally formed in the UK for people who experience voices in 1988. Now, it has spread worldwide. In the United States, the Connecticut Hearing Voices network support group has virtual groups every day of the week. It is one of the most active groups, if not the most active group. They provide support groups for all including those who don’t hear voices, as well as a family and friends support group for family and friends of those who hear voices.
Other resources
ChatGPT is a capable AI tool with a very good search engine that can find resources available in your area. Much like the 2-1-1 line can, but in a more interactive and approachable (in my opinion) way with good ability to find resources that might not even be open and are worth looking out for.
Warm Lines
Updates
- 6/7/2026: Added some new content about benefit resources
- 6/4/2026: Fixed some grammar problems, added new content.