I hope what I am about to write will help you. "Mental illness" is brain illness, plain and simple. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Diagnoses are starting points and useful as such--and they are usually necessary for insurance, if a person has it, to kick in. Diagnoses don't define a person's value nor should they be used to discriminate when it comes to education, housing or employment.

Furthermore, diagnoses can change--depending upon emerging symptoms and doctors' and others' perception of the symptoms observed or reported.

I didn't care what the doctor diagnosed me with as long as I got help with the absolutely crushing depression and anxiety that was destroying my life.

Plenty of people with brain illnesses and personality disorders are successful in college and in the workforce.

If you were to look at medication and therapies (if they have been offered or suggested to you) as tools to help you, you will go far in being the best you you can be, and please keep in mind research has brought improvements in treatments, too. Something burdensome today might be fixable in the near future.

Keep yourself informed and become an active member of your treatment team. I wish you much success in life.