"I'm thinking about suicide and don't know where to turn"
Please stay with us for the next few minutes.
If you’re reading this because you’re thinking about ending your life, you don’t need to work everything out right now. The priority right now is keeping you safe and getting another person involved.
I think I might hurt myself
If you cannot keep yourself safe then treat this as an emergency and call 999 or go to the nearest hospital immediately.
I'm having suicidal thoughts and need urgent help
Call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in England and connects you with a trained mental health professional.
I need someone to talk to as soon as possible
There are lots of places available throughout the UK. See your options at the bottom of this page.
Right now try to do these three things:
Get somewhere safer
Move away from things that you might be able to use to hurt yourself. Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs.
Don't be alone
Go to another person, a public place, or just somewhere where you are not alone, but feel safe.
Tell someone how you are feeling
Find a friend, a partner, a parent, a sibling, a colleague, a teammate a neighbour, a GP, or a Mental-health professional. Tell them that you are struggling and having suicidal feelings.
You could say:
“I’m having suicidal thoughts and I don’t feel safe.”
What are you struggling with right now?
"I don't want to bother anyone.”
When you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, you may feel like a burden and that feeling can make asking for help incredibly difficult.
You do not have to decide whether you’re “bad enough” to deserve support.
If you’re thinking about suicide, tell someone.
You are not wasting the NHS’s time by asking for urgent help with a mental-health crisis.
You are not wasting a helpline’s time by calling.
“I don't know why I feel like this.”
That’s OK.
There isn’t one reason that people experience suicidal thoughts and you don’t need to understand exactly why this is happening before you ask for help.
You can simply tell somebody:
“I don’t know why, but I’m having thoughts about suicide.”
That’s enough to begin.
"I've asked for help before and it didn't work
If you’ve reached out for help before and didn’t feel heard, understood or supported in the way you needed, we understand why the thought of trying again might feel incredibly difficult. It can take a huge amount to ask for help in the first place, and a disappointing experience can leave you wondering what the point is in reaching out again.
But please don’t let one experience close the door on support altogether. Sometimes it can take time to find the right person, service or type of support for you.
You might decide to go back to your GP, speak to a different doctor, contact NHS urgent mental health support, or try another service. If things have become more difficult since you last reached out, try to be as open as you can about how you’re feeling now and tell them directly if you’re thinking about suicide.
What happened last time doesn’t determine what happens next.
You deserve to be listened to and taken seriously. If you can, give someone another opportunity to listen.
Where to find help
For anyone over 18 affected by suicide or suicidal thoughts. Open 5pm to midnight, every day. Helpline, online chat and WhatsApp chat.
For anyone struggling with suicidal feelings. Open 6pm to midnight every day.
Your GP can be a good place to start. They can listen to what you’ve been experiencing, discuss the support and treatment that might be appropriate and, where needed, refer you to specialist mental health services.
If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to your usual GP, you can ask to see another doctor at the same practice. You may also be able to register with a different GP surgery if you would prefer.
