Self help has some advantages. For example, it is usually cheap compared to private therapy. For many forms of self help it does not matter where you live, so self help might be available to you even if CBT is not available in your area.

Self help can give you:

• Information about your condition
• Contact with other sufferers
• Practical advice to help you to cope
• Someone to talk to in a crisis

Self help also has some disadvantages. When self help goes wrong, it can make you:

• Focus on knowing a lot (instead of on recovering)
• Feel that you are a long-term victim (when you are not)
• Anxious about other conditions (that you do not really have)
• Mistrust therapies (when they could help you)
• Comfortable having your condition (when you could be having a life)

It is important that you are aware of these when you use self-help techniques.

See also: Information about your condition