Get help now
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If you’re at immediate risk or harm, please call 999 and ask for an ambulance.
If you’re having a mental health crisis and need urgent help now, click the button below for who to contact.
Support over the winter break
If things feel difficult and you need support over the winter break, there are lots of people you can talk to. These services are available over the festive period:
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Childline
If you’re under 19 you can confidentially call, chat online or email about any problem big or small.
Sign up for a free Childline locker (real name or email address not needed) to use their free 1-2-1 counsellor chat and email support service.
Can provide a BSL interpreter if you are deaf or hearing-impaired.
Hosts online message boards where you can share your experiences, have fun and get support from other young people in similar situations.
- Opening times:
- 24/7
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Shout
Text SHOUT to 85258.
Shout provides free, 24/7 text support for young people across the UK experiencing a mental health crisis.
All texts are answered by trained volunteers, with support from experienced clinical supervisors.
Texts are free from EE, O2, Vodafone, 3, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile, GiffGaff, Tesco Mobile and Telecom Plus.
Texts can be anonymous, but if the volunteer believes you are at immediate risk of harm, they may share your details with people who can provide support.
- Opening times:
- 24/7
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Samaritans
Whatever you're going through, you can contact the Samaritans for support. N.B. This is a listening service and does not offer advice or intervention.
- Opening times:
- 24/7
Help and advice
Whether you want to understand more about how you're feeling, get information about a mental health condition or find support, our guides can help. If you need help speaking to someone, start with our guide to reaching out for help.
Your feelings are valid and things can get better.
Real life stories
Be part of the movement
Young people are already doing so much to change the world for the better. You’re already organising, spreading joy, demanding change and sharing your mental health experiences - we want to make these stories impossible to ignore. And through our work with young people, you continue to teach us every day how to keep pushing for the society we all need.
Find out more below about how you can be part of the movement.
Frequently asked questions
Shout Textline offers you free, 24/7 text messaging support, wherever you are in the UK. Text SHOUT to 85258 to start chatting to a trained volunteer.
You can also call Childline to speak to someone about how you’re feeling.
If you are at immediate risk or harm, please call 999 and ask for an ambulance.
Our urgent help page has more information on who can support you in a crisis.
We all have mental health, just like we all have physical health. It’s about how we think, feel and act. Sometimes we feel well, and sometimes we don’t. When our mental health is good, we feel motivated and able to take on challenges and new experiences. But when our mental health is not so good, we can find it much harder to cope. Find out more about mental health.
We all have good days and bad days, but when negative thoughts and feelings start to affect your daily life and stop you doing the things you enjoy, or your ability to feel okay, this means you need support with your mental health. For example, nearly everyone gets anxious before an exam, a job interview or a first date. But if you feel anxious all the time and this is stopping you from sleeping well or meeting up with friends, you might need help. Find out more about mental health.
However you’re feeling right now is valid and things can get better – we’re here to help you on that journey. We have lots of advice and tips from other young people who've been there. Use our helpfinder to get advice on how to cope with what you're going through.
We provide young people with tools to look after their mental health. We empower adults to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives. And we give young people the space to get their voices heard. Find out more about who we are and what we do.
Whether you’re struggling with how you’re feeling, want to know more about a mental health condition or medication, or want to find support, we’re here for you. Use our helpfinder to find advice on how to look after yourself and where and how you can get the support you need.
If you want to tell your story, become an Activist or campaign for a better society for young people, join our movement.
Become part of our community by following us on Instagram or TikTok @YoungMindsUK.
Take a look at our guide to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to find out about how the service works, including information on how you can get help from CAMHS, what happens at an assessment, what your rights are and more. We also have information about other mental health services in our guide to support. We do not provide one-to-one support with CAMHS assessments, treatments or complaints.
Our guide to mental health conditions has lots of information to support you.
Shout offers you free, 24/7 text messaging support wherever you are in the UK. If you need someone to talk to about how you’re feeling, text SHOUT to 85258.
Please note that Shout is a separate and external organisation from YoungMinds.
