Crisis services and planning
Our guides explain what mental health crisis services are available, how they can help and when to access them.
If you're feeling in crisis right now, see our emergency advice.
What crisis services are there?
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.
Going to hospital or A&E for mental health treatment
During a crisis, staying in hospital might be the best way to keep you safe and get you with the level of treatment you need.
Mental health helplines
Helplines provide trained listeners and often have other options for getting in touch, like email, text messaging or web chat.
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.
Crisis houses, sanctuaries and day services
Crisis houses, crisis cafés, sanctuaries and day services can support you in a mental health crisis.
Crisis teams
NHS crisis teams support people who might otherwise need to go to hospital. They're sometimes called crisis resolution and home treatment (CRHT) teams.
Planning for a mental health crisis
Nobody plans to be in crisis. You might not like the idea of planning for something you hope won't happen. But it could help to think about what you could do if you start to feel in crisis in the future, and what kind of support might help.
Rachel's story
Listen to Rachel talking about her experience of going through times of crisis with her mental health, and the different crisis services she accessed for support.
Read the transcript of this podcast.
Most of the guys at my local crisis team are brilliant. Even when they've already seen me in A&E three times that week it still feels as important.
