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Finding support for mental health – for young people

Information for young people on how and where you can get mental health support, for whatever you're going through.

This page is also available in Welsh.

Finding support for your mental health

Finding the right help can be difficult, especially if you're finding it hard to cope or feeling unwell.

There are lots of ways you can find support – but you may need to try a few options to work out what's best for you.

Remember: you're not alone and you deserve support.

This page covers:

Stay safe

If you feel overwhelmed, or like you want to hurt yourself, support is available for you to talk things through. You deserve help as soon as you need it.

To talk with someone confidentially about how you feel, you can:

If you feel like you may attempt suicide, or you have seriously hurt yourself, this is an emergency. You can:

  • Call 999 and ask for an ambulance.
  • Tell an adult you trust and ask them to call 999 for help.

Mental health emergencies are serious. You aren't wasting anyone's time.

Should I get help for my mental health?

You might be unsure if you need help or when you should ask for it. You might be unsure what support you need or what help might look like. But thinking about if you need help is a really important first step.

No matter how you're feeling or what your situation is, you deserve to get help and support at any time.

You could be:

  • Thinking of getting help for the first time
  • Needing more help than you're getting
  • Wanting a different type of help
  • Needing urgent help
  • Unsure if you need help
  • Feeling that your issue ‘isn't serious enough’
  • Finding it hard to understand your feelings
  • Struggling to know how you're feeling
  • Finding it hard to cope with everyday life

Try thinking about what you're struggling with and what you would like your support to look like. Maybe you want ongoing support from a professional. Or maybe you want to share what you're going through with someone you already know.

It's also okay if you're not sure what support you need right now.

“Asking for support was definitely one of the hardest things that I ever did, but it was worth it.”

Where can I look for help?

There are lots of different places where you can look for help. You might find some options don't work for you, or that you're not comfortable with them right now.

Take your time to think through what feels best for you.

Remember: asking for help can feel hard, and sometimes you might have to wait for appointments. You don't have to go through it alone. You can get support from family, carers, friends and partners.​ Take your time.

It can sometimes feel helpful and comforting to have your friends, family, carers, partner or teachers support you. They can:

  • Listen to you
  • Be there to support you with how you're feeling
  • Help you feel less alone
  • Support you with practical things, like booking appointments
  • Help you find support
  • Go to appointments with you

You might find it easier to talk to people already know you. But you might not want some people to know – and that's okay. You don't have to share everything with everyone.

It's not always easy to open up to someone you know, and they might not always react in the way you want them to. For tips on starting the conversation, see our page on talking to friends and family.

“If you feel uncomfortable saying your thoughts aloud, an alternative would be to write them down and give them to who you feel comfortable with.”

You can ask your doctor for support at any time, even if you're not sure about what you're feeling or experiencing.

Doctors can give you a safe space to talk and answer any questions you have.

They can also:

You can see a doctor or nurse at any age on your own, but they might encourage you to speak to your parent or carer about what's going on.

Sometimes you might struggle to contact your GP, or not feel comfortable talking to them on the phone. You can ask others for help.

For more information, see our page on visiting your doctor.

“An official diagnosis helped me to access the support that I needed in school, and also helped me to grow and understand my condition better.”

The NHS provides these services to support children and young people with their mental health. Sometimes these services have different names, depending on where you live. You might hear CAMHS also called:

  • Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS)
  • Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (SCAMHS) in Wales

To get help from CAMHS, you normally need a referral from your doctor. Some services accept referrals from schools, social workers, youth offending teams or even from you – if you're old enough. How you get help from your local CAMHS might depend on where you live.

CAMHS have lots of different people who can help you, like psychologists and psychiatrists. They might offer you different treatments, like talking therapies and medication.

You might have to wait a while to access support from CAMHS, but while you're waiting, you can look at our ideas for things you could try yourself.

For more information, see our page on understanding CAMHS.

“There can be waiting times for your first appointment with CAMHS and your support to start. Waiting for support can be really hard but there are ways you can help support yourself during this time.”

Many schools and colleges offer the following mental health support:

  • School nurse
  • Pupil support service
  • Student counselling service

If you're not sure what support is available at your school, you could ask a teacher or a member of staff you trust.

If you have a job, your employer must do all they can to support your wellbeing. They also can't discriminate against you if you have a mental health problem.

Talking to your supervisor or manager is a good place to start. They could help you to:

  • Get support at work, like making changes to help manage what you're finding difficult at work.
  • Find some training that you could do to help both your role and wellbeing.

You could also ask if your workplace offers free wellbeing support. Some companies offer an Employee Assistance Programme, where you can talk confidentially to a counsellor for free. If you're finding this hard, they might also be able to help you find support outside of work.

To find mental health support from local organisations, you can:

  • Search for organisations using the Anna Freud Youth Wellbeing Directory.
  • Use our online map to find your nearest Local Mind service for young people.
  • Ask a local youth club or group if they know about any places you could find support. Search online to find local youth clubs and groups in your area. You could call or send them an email to see how they can help.

Through your local council, social services can provide extra support if you are:

This support could be:

  • A safe place to stay
  • Help with money
  • Support at school
  • Activities outside of school

You can use the GOV.UK search page to find your local council and see what help they offer in your area. You could also email or phone them to get more information, or ask a parent, carer or teacher to do this for you.

“I think that it's important to remember that people do care, and they do want to help you.”

It can be frustrating if you're finding it hard to get the support you deserve.

For more information, including advice on making complaints, see our page on understanding your rights.

Confidentiality: keeping what you share private

When opening up to other people, you might feel worried about what they do with what you say, or who they might tell.

To find out more about how and when your information will be kept private, see our page on confidentiality.

“When I did reach out, everyone I told was so supportive and I really wish I'd done it earlier – the prospect of it was so much scarier than the reality.”

Who can I talk to right now?

Sometimes you might need help and advice straight away for whatever you're going through. You might be waiting for another type of support, or you might not feel comfortable sharing with people you know.

Helplines, textlines and online services can be there for you at any time, for free. And you don't have to give any details about who you are.

It can take a while to figure out what works best for you – but trying different options can help.

Helplines and textlines

You can talk to someone who is trained to listen and support you, by phone, text or webchat. Whatever you say will usually be kept confidential and all of the services below are free to use. Some organisations that are here to help you are:

  • Childline. Runs a 24-hour phone helpline, email service and online and 1-2-1 webchat for children and young people in the UK. Childline can also provide Welsh-speaking counsellors.
  • Samaritans and Samaritans Cymru. Run a 24-hour helpline to talk through anything you're going through. Samaritans also offer an email service.
  • HOPELINEUK. Provides advisors who are trained to help you stay safe from suicide. They can also help if you're worried about someone else. You can get advice and support by phone, text and email.
  • The Mix. Offers a helpline, email service, crisis textline, 1-2-1 online chat and telephone counselling service for anyone needing support.

To find more places that can offer you support, see our page of useful contacts. On this page, you'll be able to find more specific options. For example, if you're struggling with your relationship with food or your sexuality.

Connecting online with others

You might find it helps to talk to other young people who are going through something similar to you. You can talk to others on online message boards like:

You can share how you're feeling and look for advice from others on how to cope with what you're experiencing. Connecting online could help you feel:

  • Better understood
  • Less alone
  • That you can help each other

By being anonymous, you might also feel like you can talk more openly about what you're going through.

There are other message boards, social media apps and sites that you might use to talk to others. But you might see posts, images or comments that are upsetting.

It's a good idea to look for sites that:

  • Have guidelines about what you can and can't post
  • Have moderators who can make sure everyone sticks to the guidelines
  • Have been created for your age group
  • Don't encourage you to do anything dangerous or harmful to yourself
  • Make you feel better, not worse

“Check in with yourself: are message boards helping or hurting your mental health?”

Your safety online

It's important to make sure you're staying safe online. Childline offer some information on how to do this. Think about what you feel okay sharing and what you want to keep private.

Remember: you don't have to share anything you don't want to. And you're not responsible for helping anyone else.

How could I try to help myself?

Finding ways to take care of your mental health is important no matter what kind of support you're getting. You can explore different ways of helping yourself, which you can use along with any other support.

Remember: you don't have to figure out everything by yourself. It's okay if you need more support.

Finding information online

You can find information about your mental health and wellbeing online. Try looking on trustworthy sites like:

“From the support I've received through websites and outpatients, it's like I'm seeing things from a way bigger perspective.”​

Reading about self-help

The Reading Well Shelf Help scheme suggests self-help books that you can read. These are recommended by professionals, and you can get them for free at your local library.

You could also ask at your school or CAMHS service if they have any self-help resources they can recommend.

Looking after your wellbeing

Looking after yourself and your wellbeing is really important. Everyone is different – you might want to think about what you like and what works for you. To look after your wellbeing, you could try to:

  • Take care of your physical health, like trying to make sure you're eating and sleeping enough.
  • Connect with others, like spending time with family and friends, or volunteering.
  • Connect with nature, like going for a walk or watching the birds from your window.
  • Do things you enjoy, like being creative or watching your favourite TV show.
  • Do things you find relaxing, like listening to music or meditating.

Remember: different things work at different times, and that's okay.

For more ideas, see our page on looking after your wellbeing.

“It can take quite a while to figure out what type of support is best… I've found the best support includes a range of things.”

< Back to our resources on how to get help and support

Go to our main info hub for young people >

This information was published in April 2022. We will revise it in 2025.

References are available on request. If you would like to reproduce any of this information, see our page on permissions and licensing.

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