One good place to start is to ask a primary care doctor or other health care provider for recommendations. Mental health professionals include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses specializing in mental health, and other licensed professional counselors. You also might consult with a religious counselor.

Here are some other resources that might be helpful in finding a mental health professional.

1) General information about mental health care and the different types of practitioners:

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
2) To find a mental health treatment center in your city:

National Mental Health Information Center. Features a map of the U.S. states and territories. Clicking on any of these leads to a city-by-city, searchable list of local mental health resources
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has a similar map and database for people with VA benefits.
general and psychiatric hospitals
university departments of psychology or psychiatry
employee assistance programs in the workplace
Depending on the urgency of your situation, try checking under “Mental Health,” “Crisis Intervention,” and “Hotlines” in both your locale’s telephone directory and Web site.
3) To find a private psychiatrist or psychologist in your city:

The American Psychiatric Association’s APA Answer Center. You can also call or write the American Psychiatric Association directly, at 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825, Arlington, VA 22209; 1-888-35-PSYCH; email apa@psych.org. From outside the U.S. and Canada, call 1-703-907-7300.
American Psychological Association.
Health insurance plans and health maintenance organizations. These may limit where mental health treatment can be provided and the number of visits that will be covered. However, they can often steer you in the right direction when you are looking for treatment.

Hospital emergency departments. Remember that, in a mental health crisis, hospital emergency departments always are available, and their staff should also be able to make referrals for follow-up outpatient care.

I’m concerned about the poor job the medical community does with disseminating health information. One would think that with the omnipresence of the Internet, that patients would be well-versed with the most basic health information (like many of you are), but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

For instance, I read recently that when a group of women were asked, only 13 percent considered heart disease to be their greatest personal health risk, even though it’s the No. 1 health threat to women, killing more women each year than the next six causes of death combined.

All forms of media give ample coverage to the dangers and prevalence of heart disease. How can so many women not be getting this message?

The Institute of Medicine in 2004 issued an alarming report saying that nearly half of all American adults - some 90 million people - have difficulty understanding and using health information. The consequences of this are clear: higher rates of hospitalization, patients presenting with more advanced disease, billions of dollars in avoidable health care costs, and perhaps most disturbing, greater potential for medical errors.

It’s a big problem whether you are caring for yourself or overseeing the care of a loved one. What can the medical community do to make more Americans informed just like you?

People with ADHD are easily distracted, often hyperactive and impulsive, and have poor concentration. In children, these behaviors can result in poor school performance. Often the stimulant drug methylphenidate (Ritalin) is prescribed. Though the drug improves symptoms and school performance, there’s been debate over the years about the wisdom of using stimulant drugs to treat ADHD in children.

Now the FDA has issued a strong warning that sudden death has been associated with stimulant treatment for ADHD in children and adolescents who also had serious heart problems. These stimulants include the amphetamine derivatives Dexedrine and Adderall as well as Ritalin.

The FDA warning specifically states that these stimulant products should not be used in children or adolescents with serious heart rhythm abnormalities or other heart problems.

This warning is relevant to parents whose children have ADHD. However, adults should take heed as well. ADHD was once considered primarily a disorder of children. Now it is recognized that up to 70 percent of children with ADHD continue to have symptoms as adults. An estimated 1 percent to 7 percent of the adult population in the U.S. has ADHD. Adults with ADHD have symptoms similar to those of children, though adults tend to manifest restlessness rather than overt hyperactivity.

The diagnosis of ADHD is difficult, and physicians sometimes prescribe stimulants to adults who have some of the typical symptoms, often after prodding from people who have self-diagnosed the disorder.

Because serious heart disorders and disturbances of heart rhythm are much more common in adults than in children, adults taking stimulants for ADHD should talk with their doctors about their possible risk for sudden death.