Where to get urgent mental health support
If you are in crisis right now, this is the page. The routes to help today, at any hour, and that you do not need a reason or a diagnosis to use them.
If you are in crisis right now, this is the page. You do not need to have decided anything, you do not need it to be “bad enough”, and you do not have to face it alone. Here is where to turn today, and you can reach out at any hour.
- If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999 or go to A and E now.
- To talk to someone right now, the Samaritans are free, day and night, on 116 123.
- Prefer to text? Text SHOUT to 85258 for free, confidential support any time.
- For urgent NHS help, call 111 and choose the mental health option, or ask your GP for an urgent appointment.
- You do not need a reason or a diagnosis, and reaching out is the strong thing to do, not the weak one.
If you need help this minute
If you are thinking about harming yourself, or you feel you cannot keep yourself safe, please treat this as the emergency it is. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999 or go to your nearest A and E. That is exactly what they are for, and using them is never an overreaction.
If you need to talk to someone straight away but it is not an immediate emergency, you can call the Samaritans free at any time, day or night, on 116 123. They are there to listen, you do not have to be suicidal to call, and you will not be judged or rushed. If speaking on the phone feels like too much, you can text SHOUT to 85258 instead, which is a free and confidential text service available around the clock.
You do not need to have worked out what is wrong, rehearsed what to say, or decided that it counts. Reaching out when you are struggling is the whole point of these services, and the hardest part, making contact, is the thing they most want you to do.
Urgent help through the health service
For urgent NHS mental health support, call 111 and choose the mental health option. Many areas run local crisis lines and mental health teams reachable this way, and 111 can direct you to the right one and help you decide what you need. It is available around the clock and it is the right call when things are urgent but not an immediate physical emergency.
Your GP is another route, and you can ask for an urgent or emergency appointment rather than waiting weeks. If you are already known to a mental health team, they will usually have a crisis number, and it is worth having that saved before you need it. Out of hours, 111 and the crisis services above cover the gap.
And do not overlook your diabetes team here. If your crisis is bound up with the diabetes, the weight of it, a frightening hypo, burnout that has become something heavier, they know you and the condition, many have psychology support attached, and telling them you are in a bad place is a completely legitimate thing to do.
Once the immediate moment has passed
Getting through the crisis moment is the priority, and what comes after matters too. A crisis is a signal that the load has become too heavy, and it deserves follow-up rather than being quietly filed away once the worst has passed. Telling your GP or diabetes team what happened opens the door to ongoing support, which is what stops the next crisis.
It is worth knowing that feeling this way with type 1 is more common than people admit, precisely because the condition is relentless and often invisible to everyone around you. That does not make it any less serious, and it does mean you are not unusual, not a burden, and not beyond help. The things that lead here, distress, anxiety, depression, burnout, are all treatable, and support genuinely works.
If you are supporting someone else through this, the same routes apply, and taking a disclosure seriously, staying with them, and helping them make contact can matter enormously. You do not have to have the answers; getting them to the people who do is the help.
What might bring you here
Whatever brought you here, none of it needs to be justified to deserve support. Diabetes burnout tipping into something heavier is common and worth taking seriously. And feeling completely alone with it is one of the hardest parts and one of the things talking to someone most directly helps, which is exactly what the services on this page are for.
Reaching out
Examples, not instructions or doses.
Ringing 116 123 in the middle of the night just to talk. Free, any hour, no judgement, and no need to be in crisis to call.
Texting SHOUT to 85258 when speaking felt impossible. The same support, reachable when a phone call is too much.
Telling the diabetes team afterwards what had happened. What turns getting through one night into ongoing support.