How to get help in a crisis

Mae'r dudalen hon hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg. This link will take you to a Welsh translation of this page.

If your life is at risk right now

If you feel like you might attempt suicide, or may have seriously harmed yourself, you need urgent medical help. Please:

Call 999 for an ambulance
Go straight to A&E, if you can
Call your local crisis team - if you don't already have their number, you can find an urgent mental health helpline on the NHS website

If you can't do this by yourself, ask someone to help you.

Mental health emergencies are serious. You're not wasting anyone's time.

To this day I am so thankful that I was told to go to A&E. Sometimes you need to hit a low in order to move on from one.

If you don't want to call 999

If you can keep yourself safe for a short while, but you still need urgent advice:

Contact NHS 111 if you live in England
Contact NHS 111 Wales if you live in Wales (select option 2 to access urgent mental health support)
Contact a local urgent mental health helpline (England only)
Contact your GP surgery and ask for an emergency appointment. Many GPs are now offering these remotely.

Do you need some urgent coping tools?

We have some crisis resources that you can use right away, by yourself, wherever you are.

Get crisis coping tools

If you need to talk right now

Whatever you're going through, there are people you can talk to any time. You can:

call Samaritans on 116 123 (UK-wide)
text SHOUT to 85258 (UK-wide)
call C.A.L.L. on 0800 132 737 (Wales only)

These services are for anyone who's struggling.

They won't judge you.

They're free, they're anonymous, and they're always open.

Our page of helplines and listening lines has more numbers to try.

Once a girl actually answered the phone and kept me talking through my thoughts and suicidal feelings for almost three hours! To her I shall be eternally grateful!

If you want to help someone else

See our information on how to help someone else in an emergency.

male smiling, with ginger hair and white knit jumper

Going to A&E in a crisis

"I could have just tidied myself up and gone to work but somehow I knew I had to speak to a doctor."

Read Simon's story

How can I prepare for a crisis?

When you're feeling in crisis, you just need to focus on staying safe, and getting help.

But if you have moments when you're feeling calmer and less overwhelmed, we have more information that could help you.

Learn about crisis services

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Unfortunately we can’t reply to this. If you want a response from us, see our Contact us page.
If you are in crisis right now and want to talk to someone urgently then you could call Samaritans on 116 123 (freephone). Our pages on crisis services have more options.

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This information was published in June 2020.

This page is currently under review. All content was accurate when published.

References and bibliography available on request.

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