I wish I could answer your question but I am not in your country, so would probably not answer it correctly. I would suggest getting legal help, it may seem like more expenditure, but could be invaluable in terms of understanding the pro’s and con’s thoroughly. Before making such a decision. I know for e.g you cannot buy life cover in my country once filing for it, nor buy a home. You can also look into after rehabilitation after filing. So it need not be permanent. If you are from the USA I suspect the support and knowledge base for this type of question is quite vast.
Where I live too, we have university clinics, whereby a student can take on your case, and is overseen by a Professor. So it is free.