Need help now
Sometimes, we may find ourselves at a point of personal crisis, overwhelmed, feeling unsure about how to get help. If this is happening to you right now you might feel isolated and alone with your problems and mental health struggles. You might be feeling utterly worthless and unimportant like you feel unworthy of help. At these darkest times of crisis, you might be weighing up if you can bring yourself to reach out for help or not. Or you might feel afraid to burden others with your struggles, even if you are close to giving up completely. Your mind and your thinking might be telling you that nobody cares and perhaps you are having thoughts of wanting to hurt yourself. These feelings and thoughts may have been building up for some time, or they have been triggered by an event, trauma or misfortune. There could be many reasons that have caused your distress and you could be carrying it all by yourself, alone.
Now, in this moment, you could make a choice to share your heavy load with a mental health professional. Who is equipped and able to support you at these times of crisis. When you are experiencing a downward spiral of depression, negative feelings, anxiety or any other psychologically or emotionally impacting feeling and thinking patterns, it can seem like these feelings will last forever. You might find yourself feeling worse at night or when you are trying to rest, you could be lacking sleep, or sleeping too much at times. Know that feelings do pass, even though it feels like they won't at the time your in the middle of a downward spiral. Once you get the right support for you, once your feelings have been heard and respected, spoken about and addressed it will get easier for you to cope and the feelings will leave. Seeking the right support for yourself when you are in a crisis episode will start your journey back to recovery.
If you find yourself at immediate serious risk of harm to yourself, or you have seriously harmed yourself, for example, you have overdosed please dial 999 or take yourself to the nearest A&E. Click here for more information. Or ask someone to call 999 on your behalf and give the location of where you are.
If you are concern about the safety of someone you know and you feel they are at risk of seriously harming themselves you can call 999 if you feel there is an emergency.
Dial 111 for support and guidance.
Below, are a list of crisis numbers;
24 Hour support
Samaritans
Call 116 123
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Dial 999
If you are in a mental health emergency
Dial 111
If you are in a mental health crisis, or you are concerned about the mental health wellbeing of someone you know.
Other Support Avenues
Visit your GP
It is important that your GP knows and is kept updated about your mental health. Your GP can make referrals for you to counselling and other therapies and potentially support you with a course of medicine that can help you cope.
IAPT Therapy Service
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You can ask your GP to refer you to IAPT NHS counselling service.
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Need help but not in crisis
If you are struggling to cope right now, and are not in a crisis or emergency situation, you might find some of the techniques on the Self-Help and Self-Care page on this website beneficial to you. It is important to find techniques that promote your mental health wellbeing, that help your feelings to be processed, and for your thinking to be framed if needed. You and your feelings are important and your overall quality of life is important. Once you find your balance of Self-Care needs this will help all other elements of your life too.