Whether you’re currently in a crisis or dealing with an escalating mental health issue, seeking out help can be anxiety-inducing — especially if you've heard some horror stories.
So if you're someone who has been thinking about seeking help for the first time, reading something like that might really, really freak you out.
To help you navigate this, BuzzFeed Health spoke with the following experts about when and how to seek help:
* Ranna Parekh, MD, director of the American Psychiatric Association's division of diversity and health equity
* Lynn Bufka, PhD, associate executive director for practice research and policy at the American Psychological Association
* Ken Duckworth, MD, medical director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness
Here's what they had to say: