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Disclaimer

General

Thank you for visiting the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website and reviewing our policies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of which NIMH is a part, does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about visitors to its websites, unless required by law or court order.

NIMH is committed to protecting your privacy. NIMH will not collect any personal information about you when you visit our website (other than the standard information automatically collected and stored in the web server's logs) unless you choose to provide it to us.

NIMH does not endorse or recommend any commercial products or services. Inclusion of an author's views or opinions on our website does not constitute endorsement by NIMH, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), HHS, or the U.S. Government. Private parties may not use NIMH or author’s views or opinions on our website for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Detailed information regarding NIMH’s policies is provided below.

Medical Information

NIMH does not intend to provide specific medical advice on our website, but rather to help visitors better understand mental illnesses. Consult with a qualified health care provider for diagnosis, treatment, and answers to your personal questions.

For all mental health-related questions, requests for copies of publications, and inquiries concerning NIMH research, policies, and priorities, please contact a health information specialist at the NIMH Information Resource Center.

Linking Policy and Disclaimer of Endorsement

Material on the NIMH website may include hyperlinks to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations and persons. NIMH provides these links solely for our users' information and convenience. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of NIMH, NIH, HHS, the U.S. Government, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced in a way that implies NIMH endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

When you select a link to an outside website, you are leaving the NIMH domain and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside website.

NIMH does not control nor guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained on an externally linked website.

NIMH does not endorse links on other organization’s websites, and we do not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.

NIMH cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website. Individuals who provide comments are responsible for the copyright of the text they provide.

NIMH is not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites.

NIMH does not guarantee that outside websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.

Pop-Up Advertisements

When visiting the NIMH website, your web browser may produce "pop-up" advertisements (advertisements that spontaneously appear on your computer screen). The most likely source of such an advertisement is another website you visited or third-party software on your computer. NIMH does not endorse or recommend products or services featured in advertisements that "pop up" during your visit to our site.

Copyright Policy

The public may reproduce without permission information from the National Institute of Mental Health website, except for documents that state another copyright policy applies to them. Restrictions on the reproduction of a document may arise if a private party has sponsored it. NIMH, however, is the sole sponsor of most of the content on this site.

Information and Publications

NIMH information and publications are the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission. NIMH encourages you to reproduce them and use them in your efforts to improve public health. Citation of the National Institute of Mental Health as a source is appreciated.

Using government materials inappropriately, however, can raise legal or ethical concerns, so we ask you to follow these guidelines:

  • Do not use NIMH content for advertising or endorsement purposes. NIMH does not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes, or services.
  • Do not use NIMH content in a manner that may give the appearance of NIMH providing specific medical advice, treatment recommendations, or referrals.
  • Do not alter NIMH content in a way that will jeopardize the integrity and “brand” of NIMH.

Please also keep in mind:

  • Addition of non-Federal Government logos and website links does imply an NIMH endorsement of any specific commercial products, services, or medical treatments or services.
  • Images used in publications are of models and are used for illustrative purposes only. Use of some images is restricted.

If you have questions regarding these guidelines and use of NIMH content, please contact the NIMH Information Center at 1-866-615-6464 or nimhinfo@nih.gov.

Graphics, Photos, and Illustrations

Graphics (photos, illustrations) used in NIMH information products are a mix of copyrighted and copyright-free materials. If you want to reuse a graphic independently of the original NIMH product, please follow this guidance:

Graphics created and owned by private-sector designers should be credited to individuals or companies. Permission to reuse these copyrighted graphics must be negotiated directly with the creators, and not NIMH. If you’re not sure who the creator is, email us at nimhinfo@nih.gov.

Graphics explicitly credited to NIMH are copyright-free and may be used without our permission. Please credit NIMH as the source.

Comment Guidelines

Where commenting on social media is supported on this or any other websites owned or administered by the NIMH, NIMH encourages you to share your thoughts as they relate to the topic being discussed. NIMH reviews and posts comments according to the guidelines below.

The views expressed in comments reflect those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the NIMH, NIH, HHS, or the U.S. Government.

The NIMH comment guidelines are designed to encourage respectful and constructive dialogue. Comments that include the following are prohibited:

  • Vulgar, offensive, obscene, inflammatory, profane, threatening, or abusive language.
  • Unlawful or otherwise objectionable statements; personal attacks of any kind; unsupported accusations.
  • Discriminatory language (including hate speech) based on race, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or disability.
  • Endorsements of commercial products, services, organizations, or other entities.
  • Endorsements of political parties, candidates, or groups.
  • Repetitive posts (for example, submission of the same idea multiple times).
  • Spam or undecipherable language (gratuitous links will be viewed as spam).
  • Content that infringes on copyrights.
  • Links to non-governmental external sites.
  • Images or videos.
  • Solicitation of funds.
  • Comments on any ongoing investigation of any sort.
  • Procurement-sensitive information related to any current/future NIH acquisitions.
  • Surveys, polls, questionnaires, etc., that are subject to Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) clearance. General information about PRA clearance is available on the NIH Office of Science Policy website. Please contact the NIMH PRA Clearance Team at nimhprapubliccomments@mail.nih.gov if you have any questions.
  • Personally identifiable information or sensitive information.
  • Off-topic posts.
  • Questions from reporters– all media inquiries must be directed to the NIMH Press Team (nimhpress@mail.nih.gov).

In posting your comments or other work to websites owned or administered by NIMH, you irrevocably grant NIMH permission to copy, distribute, make derivatives, display, or perform your work publicly and free-of-charge.
Remember that your posts are public. When posting, please do not include information (e.g., name, email, social security numbers) in the text of your comment that personally identifies you in a way you do not intend. To learn more about NIMH privacy practices, please visit the NIMH Privacy and Security Notice webpage.

NIMH recognizes that the web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to reasonably manage federal resources, moderating and posting comments should only be expected to occur Monday through Friday during regular business hours. Comments submitted at other times will be reviewed and posted as soon as possible. Please note that NIMH does not respond to individual comments or questions on a routine basis.