Hope and help is at hand. Find out more about free mental health support in the UK, and always remember that you matter. See also: list of UK student helplines.
Our generation has a serious problem with mental health. Even though we’re doing everything in our power to destroy the stigma surrounding it, many of us are failing to actually get the help we so desperately need.
According to a survey conducted by American University students, millennials feel cost and time are the biggest factors keeping their peers from seeking mental health care. Many of us are simply too broke to afford high-priced counselling sessions.
I was struck by how half of the survey respondents thought that people their age didn’t know where to go for mental health care. Maureen Rubin, Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Nevada, points out:
“After 18 years of age, kids are on their own. They are the ones who fall through the cracks because they don’t have access to services.”
Please believe me when I say there is hope.
If you’re a young person living in the UK and you’re ready to get help, or if you just need someone to talk to, there are free programmes available for you to take advantage of across the country. This list doesn’t cover every source of help out there but it does feature a wide variety of services. Hopefully one of them will meet your needs.
Again, all programmes on this list are available free of charge.
UK Helplines
Breathing Space (Scotland) — 0800 83 85 87
Free, confidential, advice for anyone experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety.
C.A.L.L. Helpline (Wales) — 0800 132 737
Offers emotional support and information on mental health and related matters to the people of Wales.
HOPEline UK — 0800 068 41 41
Provides suicide intervention, confidential support, and advice on how to cope with thoughts of suicide, and where you can access help.
Lifeline Helpline (Northern Ireland) — 0808 808 8000
Counsellors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to listen and help, in confidence. They can also provide face-to-face counselling in your local area within seven days.
Samaritans — 116 123
No matter what you’re going through, Samaritans offers support for your concerns, worries and troubles. You don’t have to be feeling suicidal to give them a call any time, any day of the year.
This article by Liz Greene was first published in Mookychick and reprinted with permission.
