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I'm a consumer who is looking for a curriculum that would give me some straight answers about my mental illness. I'm in and out of the hospital. I always get in trouble with the nurses and staff. I can't keep a relationship with the opposite sex. How do I get a grip on my life and keep it?

Why can't I find a person who knows what I'm going through? Someone who can help me get a grip on my life; someone to help me with my problems.

Some doctors can help if they take the time to get to know you. But they have so many patients. They don't have the time that they need to identify you as a person not just as a patient. One treatment might work for one patient but not for the other patient. So, if a doctor gets to know his or her patient, the doctor will probably know if you're just having a bad hair day, you're only letting off steam, or you are not taking your medication. A doctor should be able to help you to look for different signs to let you know when you are starting to slip.

How can I protect myself? If I become hospitalized, how can I keep my apartment and pay all my bills? Most of us are on a fixed income, so we can't afford that excess charge when bills are paid late. When you are hospitalized, you start to worry if your belongings are safe.

I was looking for a course that would teach me how to function with my mental illness and live a quality life. I found a program that works. People who don't have mental illness need to take this course also, especially the young people who are starting out in life. This program instructs you on how to survive with or without mental illness. It informs you of all your rights as a human being trying to survive.

The name of this program is NAMI's Peer-to-Peer recovery program, the first of its kind in New York. It can help you stay out of the hospital. If you are hospitalized, the program can help you to know how to cut your stay in the hospital. It can help you to set things in motion, so you won't lose your apartment or things that you worked so hard to have.

The program will instruct you on stress management. You will learn about different mental illnesses, relapse prevention, how to find a job and keep it, and more about your medication management. It will help you to communicate with your doctor on subjects like medication's side effects or if you need to change medications.

Peer to Peer is free. It meets once a week for nine weeks. They only ask one thing from you: once you start the class they will like for you to see it to the end.

The program will be held at Harlem House, 151 West 127th Street (Between Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. and Lenox Avenue), (212) 932-8122.)