This page covers:
What is a mental health crisis?
A mental health crisis is when you feel your mental health is at breaking point, and you need urgent help and support.
For example, you might have feelings or experiences that feel very painful or difficult to manage such as suicidal feelings, self-harm, panic attacks, flashbacks, hypomania or mania, or psychosis (such as paranoia or hearing voices). You might also have other experiences that aren't mentioned here.
Some people feel in crisis as part of ongoing mental health problems, or due to stressful and difficult life experiences such as abuse, bereavement, addiction, money problems or housing problems. Or there might not be a particular reason.
However you experience a crisis, it's always OK to ask for help.
What help could I get?
Nobody plans to have a crisis, but knowing your options can be useful. Exploring different types of support might be something you feel able to do at less difficult times. (Our page on planning for a crisis has more suggestions).
There’s no wrong order to try things in – different things work for different people at different times. But some types of support might be more suitable for you, or more easily available.
This table shows some types of crisis support:
Emergency GP appointments |
Your local GP surgery should offer you an appointment quickly if you need urgent support. You don't need to be registered as a patient already.
To find out more, see our pages on:
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Accident & Emergency (A&E) |
A&E departments are open 24 hours a day and anyone can visit them free of charge.
To find out more, see our page on:
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Helplines & listening services |
Helplines provide trained listeners and often have other options for getting in touch, like email, text messaging or web chat.
To find out more, see our page on:
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Crisis teams (CRHTs) |
Crisis teams support people who might otherwise need to go to hospital. They can support you during a crisis if you're already under their care.
To find out more, see our page on:
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Treatment in hospital |
During a crisis, staying in hospital might be the best way to keep you safe and provide you with the level of treatment you need.
To find out more, see our page on:
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Crisis houses |
Crisis houses offer intensive, short-term support in a residential setting.
To find out more, see our page on:
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Day services |
Day services can be helpful if you're managing a mental health crisis at home.
To find out more, see our page on:
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