A lot of people don't start with "what diagnosis have I got." They start with "am I actually okay?" That's the better question anyway. This page isn't a diagnosis tool. It's a way to sort the next step: watch the pattern, book real help, or get help now.
Mild, recent, still functioning
A rough few days doesn't automatically need a diagnosis. Track whether sleep, appetite, work, school, hygiene, and relationships are still basically intact.
Lasting, worsening, or costly
When symptoms keep going for a couple of weeks, keep getting louder, or start costing you sleep, work, focus, sex, motivation, or relationships, stop trying to sort your way out alone.
Safety, reality, or control is slipping
If there is immediate danger, call 911. If this is suicidal thoughts, self-harm urges, or emotional crisis, call or text 988, or use the 988 Lifeline chat.
If it's life-threatening, fast-moving, or dangerous, skip the self-sorting
If you or someone else is at immediate risk, call 911. If you're having suicidal thoughts, urges to hurt yourself, or you're in emotional crisis and need to talk to someone now, call or text 988. You can also use the 988 Lifeline chat path. That's the right move when the question has stopped being theoretical.
If symptoms are mild and recent, watch the pattern, not just the moment
A bad few days happens. Feeling stressed, worried, tired, irritable, or off your game for a short stretch doesn't automatically mean you need a diagnosis. But it does mean you should pay attention to whether you can still function, still take care of yourself, still get through work or school, and still come back to baseline.
If it's been less than a couple of weeks, symptoms are mild, and you're still basically holding the line, it may make sense to tighten sleep, cut down alcohol or late caffeine, move your body, and see whether the picture settles down instead of snowballing.
If it's lasting, worsening, or starting to run your life, book help
The threshold gets lower when symptoms stick around for a couple of weeks or more, keep getting worse, or start eating your work, your relationships, your sleep, your appetite, your focus, your sex drive, your motivation, or your ability to function. That's usually the point where "let's see if this passes" stops being a plan.
You don't need to be falling apart to deserve care. If the thing is persistent, pulling you away from yourself, or making ordinary life harder than it should be, that's enough reason to talk to a clinician.
What this page can do, and what it can't
What it can do is point you toward the right level of urgency. What it can't do is tell you whether the answer is panic, OCD, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, trauma, grief, substance use, burnout, or three things stacked on top of each other. That's where real evaluation comes in.
If you want the fuller symptom pictures, use the condition pages. If what you really need is immediate support, use 988 or emergency care. If what you need is an actual clinical answer, book with a clinician instead of trying to solve your life from a symptom grid.