How to get help with mental health – who can I talk to?
Struggling with your mental health can be an extremely isolating, but you’re not alone.
Mental health struggles are becoming more prevalent than ever in the UK thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, but there are people out there who can help and many services that can provide support.
Nearly half of young women and over a quarter of young men experienced depression during the most recent lockdown and experts have warned that millions will need mental health support in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
It can be hard for people to seek help when you’re struggling with your mental health, but thankfully there are many places you can turn to and different ways to seek help and support.
How to get help with mental health
Intuitive guidance coach Tiffany Wardle told Metro.co.uk: ‘Speaking to your GP is always a great place to start as they can refer you to many different people. Also speaking to guidance coaches, life coaches, alternative therapists will all help you find direction.’
If you speak to your GP, they’ll ask you about your symptoms and will decide on the right treatment, which may be medication, therapy, or a combination of both.
They’re not there to judge you, and will be keen to work with you to improve your symptoms and find the right way forward.
It’s worth remembering that there may be waiting times for certain treatments, so to ask your GP about ways to cope in the meantime.
A few helplines you can try if you’d rather reach out over the phone, or need more help and information on where to get support besides your GP:
- Sane Charity – between 4.30pm and 10.30pm 365 days a year – 0300 304 7000
- The Samaritans – 24 hour – 116 123
- NHS 111 – 24 hour
- Mind – open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays) – 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus UK – open 10am – 10pm in the week and between 2pm and 10pm at weekends and bank holidays – 0800 068 41 41
- C.A.L.M. (Campaign Against Living Miserably) – open between 5pm and midnight every day of the year – 0800 58 58 58 (outside London), 0808 802 58 58 (in London)
- Silverline – open 24 hours a day, every day of the year – 0800 4 70 80 90
Some areas have IAPT services available, where you can self-refer without having to get a GPs appointment and be sent to the right mental health service. You can check if there’s one in your area on the NHS website.
Rethink Mental Illness also have services across England. You can search for services in your area at rethink.org.
If you’d prefer to go private, you can use the BACP website to find qualified counsellors and psycotherapists in your area. Similarly, the BABCP has a register of accredited CBT therapists available, if that’s the treatment you’d prefer.
Costs can vary, and there’s no guarantee that the first person you speak to will be the therapist who suits you. Going forward and speaking about what’s going on in your head, though, will always be a positive step.
If you’re in crisis and feel like you may harm yourself or others, then it’s best to go to A&E.
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