Do you need urgent help?

If you're feeling like you want to end your life or harm yourself, it's important to tell someone.

Help and support is available right now if you need it. You do not have to struggle with difficult feelings alone.

Being in crisis could mean:

  • You want to hurt yourself, end your life, be dead, or you don't want to exist
  • You are overwhelmed and / or distressed and / or traumatised and / or numb
  • You can't cope with day-to-day living activities and / or you're burnt out
  • You have feelings of hopelessness or despair
  • You believe things will not get better or will get worse
  • You feel traumatised from abuse, child sexual abuse, rape, domestic abuse or loss/grief
  • You feel lonely

You may find it helpful to tell the person you speak to that you are neurodivergent. Explain what they can do to help you, e.g. use clear language, speak slowly and give you time to process the information, give opportunities for you to ask questions to clarify your understanding.

Click on the services below to find out how to contact them.

Urgent help required: Suicidal or at risk of immediate harm or self-harm

Service: Emergency services

Description: For severe and life-threatening emergencies, such as being suicidal, serious injury or immediate risk of harm/self-harm.

Contact: Call 999

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Other factors to consider: If taken or directed to Accident and Emergency, it is a high stimulus environment and is likely to be busy with lots of people.
Wait times vary – people are seen in order of need with many people waiting more than four hours before they are seen by a liaison psychiatrist or liaison nurse.

Service: Accident and Emergency

Description: For severe and life-threatening emergencies, such as being suicidal, serious injury or immediate risk of harm/self-harm.

Location: Find your nearest A&E department.

Opening hours: 24 hours a day

Other factors to consider: If taken or directed to Accident and Emergency, it is a high stimulus environment and is likely to be busy with lots of people.
Wait times vary – people are seen in order of need with many people waiting more than four hours before they are seen by a liaison psychiatrist or liaison nurse.

Help for a mental health crisis, suicidal thoughts or thoughts about self-harm but not at risk of immediate harm

Service: NHS 111

Description: For when you have urgent healthcare need, but it isn’t life-threatening. For example, you may be having suicidal thoughts or thoughts about harming yourself. This service has specially trained mental health practitioners but may not have specialist knowledge of autism or ADHD.

Contact: Call 111 and select option 2 or go online.


What this service offers: 

This service will direct you to the right service as close to your home as possible. They are likely to signpost you to your local mental health hubs.

If they assess you're in need of emergency care they will transfer you to the ambulance operation centre or direct you to your nearest local Accident and Emergency setting.  

Other factors to consider: When answering your call, the operator will ask you a series of questions in a set order. 

Service: Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT)

Description: For existing KMPT patients who need help in a mental health crisis.

Contact: 
 If you are a KMPT patient experiencing an urgent mental health crisis is to contact the team caring for you during their working hours. 

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm

What does this service offer: Community Mental Health teams and Home Treatment teams 

Service: Mental Health Matters – Safe Havens

Description: A walk-in, free mental health support for anyone aged 18 or over, in a comfortable, non-judgemental, and non-clinical environment.

Support is also available via telephone and video call. 

People using the service are also supported by a 24/7 helpline when the service is closed.

Contact: Find details for the individual Safe Havens.

Location: Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Folkestone, Gillingham, Maidstone, Medway, Ramsgate, Thanet and Tunbridge Wells

Opening hours: 
6 – 11pm, 7 days a week. In Thanet and Medway – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

What does this service offer: 
Run by Mental Health Matters, the Safe Havens offer drop-in support to adults in crisis or heading towards a crisis. People can access one-to-one emotional support as well as help to create staying well and crisis plans. No referral or appointment is required.

What the service doesn't offer: Safe Havens are not suitable for people needing urgent medical attention (for example, after self-harm).

Service: SHOUT 

Description: Shout is a free, confidential text messaging service for anyone in the UK who needs support. If you are struggling to cope and need to talk, trained Shout volunteers are there to help. There are also online resources.

Contact: Text the word ‘Shout’ to 85258.

Opening hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Other factors to consider: You only need to share what you feel comfortable with. Shout’s volunteers will work with you to take your next steps towards feeling better. They will always try to respond to messages as quickly as possible, but responses can take longer at busy times.

Service: Stay Alive app

Description: A comprehensive suicide prevention resource developed by Grassroots Suicide Prevention

Contact: Download to your mobile from the app store or Google play. A version is also available on a desktop.

What does this service offer:  

Crisis Support: Quick access to national crisis support helplines

Safety Plan: A mini-safety plan that can be filled out to help stay safe during a crisis

LifeBox: A place to upload life-affirming photos, videos, and web-links

Wellness Plan: Tools to create a plan for self-care

Reasons for Living: A section to list personal reasons for staying alive

Suicide Myth-Busting: Information to dispel common myths about suicide

Support for Others: Guidance on how to help someone who may be considering suicide

Service: Release the Pressure

Description: Free 24-hour confidential support via a phone line or by text message

Contact: Call 0800 107 0160 or text SHOUT to 85258 

Opening hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

What does this service offer: 
Free expert advice from trained counsellors is available for every mental health concern, including:

  • suicidal thoughts
  • anxiety
  • depression
  • low self-esteem
  • money worries
  • relationship troubles
  • stress

Service: The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)

Description: A suicide prevention charity that offers a range of services to support individuals struggling with life.

Contact: Call 0800 58 58 58 or access Livechat and WhatsApp via the website.

Opening hours: 5pm to midnight, 7 days a week.

What does this service offer: 
This service offers support to anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts, those who have lost someone to suicide, or individuals worried about someone else.

 

Service: Rethink Sahayak Asian Mental Health Helpline

Description: 
Culturally sensitive listening and information service for the Asian community across Kent and Medway.

Callers can speak to the service in Asian languages (Gujarati, Punjabi, Hindu, and Urdu) or English.

The service is free and will not show up on your phone bill.

Contact: 
Call 0808 800 2073

Opening hours: Monday – Wednesday: 4pm – 7pm, Tuesday – Thursday: 12pm – 3pm

What does this service offer: 
The service is for anyone affected by mental health issues - whether they are service users, carers or friends and people affected by domestic abuse.

When you call the helpline, you can expect to be listened to, treated with dignity and respect, given emotional support and signposted to useful sources of information.

The service is totally confidential, you do not need to divulge your name or any personal data.

Service: Samaritans

Description: Support for any mental health concern including suicidal ideation, addiction, depression, work-related stress, loss, bereavement and loneliness.

Contact: 

Call 116 123

Email: jo@samaritans.org. It may take several days to receive a reply by email.

Postal service: Write to ‘Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS’

Location: 
Find your nearest Samaritans branch.

What does this service offer: Telephone helpline, o
nline chat, in-person support at branches across Kent and Medway, email and postal support.