r/MentalHealthUK

Hey guys, just thought I would post on here as my niece is running out of options and I'm not sure how to help.

My niece (20) has severe OCD, PTSD, and austism. She struggles to leave the house period and wont do so on her own. She cannot open the door herself if she is home alone, struggles heavily with triggers, intrusive thoughts, hygiene based OCD, suicidal ideation and depressive episodes.

This OCD is so severe she cannot leave the house and has an incredibly severe aversion to cameras and being recorded (for reasons I don't want to share as they're quite personal) this means that her local GP and mental health services are unable to help her adequately. She cannot go to appointments in person due to crippling fear ocd and physical health complications (severe IBS and endometriosis), struggles heavily to speak to them over the phone and relies on me or her aunt speaking on her behalf, and when seen and assessed in person they insist she must come in for appointments, but she's unable. They keep insisting on possibly sectioning her, but she would not survive or thrive in sectioning. Without her mother for support she would not fare well.

I am at a loss at what to suggest for her, the GP and mental health services say she's too complex, but she's declining rapidly and she needs help. She has been on numerous anti-depressants that haven't worked well or just made her worse even after taking them for long periods. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.

I really need to speak to someone tonight as I’m at a very low point in life. I went to ring and I panicked, what’s people’s thoughts on it.

So just going through a bad patch recently and have discussed things on ChatGPT inc. s-cidal thought.

Couple of days later my parents call, saying that the police had contacted them saying they'd received an anonymous report about concerns for my welfare. Have not discussed this with anyone, so can only presume Open AI alerted the police, who then got my parents address from the police national computer.

Bit unnerving tbh.

TLDR version:
My usual pharmacy doesn’t have my medication in stock (I’m on a repeat prescription- I have one more days worth)
I go away on Friday for 10 days
If my pharmacy doesn’t have it in stock by tomorrow afternoon (which seems possible), is my best route going via 111 for an emergency prescription?
Does anyone have any experience with getting venlafaxine as an emergency prescription?
I’m starting to get very anxious about not having it for whilst I am away, as the side effects of missing just one dose have been horrid

Especially when you have poor social skills and have never really talked about your feelings verbally before…

I received a call today from the Talking Therapies NHS service after completing two assessments. They asked for consent to pass my case on to an ‘interface meeting’ as I need ‘emotional stabilisation’ before I can commence a formal therapy such as CBT. Apparently the ‘interface meeting’ will be between different healthcare teams to see what the ‘next steps’ might be. The person on the phone then said after the interface meetings are completed, I can re-refer myself for the Talking Therapies service if required, but implied that my emotional state would not be supported by current therapy options provided by Talking Therapies.

I’m new to the professional mental health care world so would really appreciate some help on what this might entail.

Hi all,
So I’m on 60mg elvanse and have started 15mg mirtazapine around 3 weeks ago. I’m waiting for CMHT assessment so for now just have the gp.
The gp suggested increasing the dose of mirtazapine to 30mg as it isn’t doing anything and my self harm suicidal thoughts etc are increasing.
However she seemed to be quite worried about the risk of serotonin syndrome.
Now I am overthinking it and I’m really stressed because obviously it can be life threatening but also if I get it I will have to stop both medications. The 2 meds combined are the only reason I am still here so having to come off them both would actually be the nail in the coffin.
Gp is chasing CMHT to try and bring the appt forwards because it isn’t until 21st sept but does anyone else take this combo of meds?
Has anyone ever had serotonin syndrome what if I have it but I don’t know I do? What happens in terms of medication does it just mean all medication affecting serotonin in the future is off the cards?
Anyone’s experiences are so appreciated because I am spiralling about it all

First time posting here, just have a few questions.

I had a failed attempt just over a month ago. I woke up in ICU to find out I'd been put in an induced coma. Anyway, I was put on a section 2 after this and spent 3 weeks in a psychiatric hospital. I have support and contact from my local CMHT but I'm really worried about being fully open with them. I am absolutely terrified of being sectioned again to the point I want to discharge from the CMHT. If I were to be open and honest about the suicidal ideation, could they section me again? I would have never questioned this in the past because I've always had outpatient treatment. I was just looking for some advice over this, because I've recently been discharged so recently

Thanks

Psychiatrist at the CMHT said he will prescribe me Pregablin if current meds aren’t working, which they aren’t.

However I’ve seen some newspaper articles about how dangerous Pregablin can be. I’m scared of becoming dependent on it, but I’ve tried so many meds and they either don’t work or give me terrible side effects.

Has anyone here on Pregablin? Do you like the drug?

I need help, and I don’t know where to start.

I’m a 50 year old father of two young boys facing divorce and a life of complete uncertainty.

Diagnosed with ADHD and (high-functioning) Autism in my mid-forties, my emotional processing and practical decision-making skills are hindered by worry, anxiety, and poor executive functioning.

I also have Fibromyalgia, a lifelong pain condition that causes constant tiredness, low energy, and brain fog, no doubt exacerbated by my situation. I suspect I’m also depressed.

I have a constant knot in my stomach, I shake, and every task that needs doing (answering emails, paying bills, speaking with divorce lawyers, earning money!) has congealed into a melee of indecipherable noise, a tangled web of to-do’s that I block out by doomscrolling or addressing other important (but not important in the slightest) tasks. This post, another hour lost when I could have written something equally as sufficient in minutes.

I need help processing my feelings, reducing my worry, and finding clarity to focus on what needs to be done. If I’m brutally honest, I want someone to hold my hand, guide me and make the big (right) decisions for me, but that’s not going to happen. I feel like an infant lost in a grown ups world.

I want to be that person the dreaded algorithm constantly taunts me with me, the divorcee who manages to rebuild their life, who becomes physically and mentally stronger, bouncing back an incredible and present parent and an inspiration to their kids.

So where do I start and who do I turn to?

To caveat…

I live in London. Getting a GP appointment is challenging, and I’ve never seen the same GP twice in my 30 years here. What would a positive appointment look like, what am I asking of them?

I’ve tried therapy before (for social anxiety related issues pre ADHD / Autism diagnosis), it’s prohibitively expensive, i’m honestly not sure what good it did (although my judgment may be clouded by poor recollection) and my habitually cyclical and depressed outlook meant I could never get past a feeling that they were just making money out of me. Do I try again?

How do I get the help and support I need? What steps do I now need to take?

Hi all,

I have Bipolar 2 and am currently on medication, but I’m still not stable and doubt my current prescription is right for me.

My main issue is a slow, multi-month descent into depression. By the time I feel an episode coming on, my NHS CMHT takes 3–4 months to offer a psychiatrist appointment, by which point I’m in a crisis.

After 10 years of various psychotherapies, I’m experiencing diminishing returns. Given the biological nature of Bipolar, I'm thinking of stopping my private psychotherapy and reallocating those funds to see a private psychiatrist more frequently for proactive medication reviews.

A few questions for those who’ve done this: How does private psychiatry work alongside the NHS? Can they prescribe directly, and will GPs typically accept Shared Care Agreements for the prescriptions?

For those who've chosen frequent psychiatric med management over psychotherapy, what was your experience?

I don’t know what to fucking do tbh I’ve tried all the numbers other than 999 but nobody answers and I’m at my wits fucking end, I need to talk to someone I know I do, but my head fucking hurts now, I’m sad/angry/suicidal and nobody answers their phone, I’ve left voicemails for my mates, everyone’s asleep though, I don’t want to fucking die, but this is getting too fucking noisy, I really need someone’s help I’m sorry for posting, I never normally complain I’m really struggling I don’t know what to do

I know timeframes can vary a lot person to person and in different areas however wondering if I can get a general idea

For reference I was referred in June 2025, waited 9 months to see a ‘wellbeing practitioner’ who decided they were not appropriate and I needed to be referred for more intensive therapy (in march this year) and told they would be in touch about an assessment with psychology.

Saw a psychiatrist once at the beginning of June (a year after I was referred) though have just been told to see GP for my medication since. GP is not very helpful and the medication hasn’t been working. No info on any upcoming appointments and no idea what sort of timeframe for the therapy assessment.

Just wondering if this seems normal or I should be chasing them more?

Hi all,

So about a month ago I quit therapy that I had been going to for 6 months as it honestly made me worse.

Well, a month later and nothing has change and I'm wondering if I go back, or try a different therapist. I don't think it's the therapist themself that was why it wasn't working for me but definitely more my fault. I think the biggest issue was every time i went there I just had such an overwhelming sense of shame and that's probably not going anywhere anytime soon.

I also couldn't be truly honest as I didn't want my therapist to hate me or think I'm an arsehole so maybe I need to just not be a pussy if I go back.

I really don't know what to do so any advice is welcome

Hello,

I dont know if this is the wrong place to ask but Im feeling very stuck at the moment.

To preface, I've been in the mental health services ringer all my life, since I was about 11. Ive had more sessions of CBT and DBT than Ive had hot meals at this point.

In the last 5 years or so, since being discharged from Adult Mental Health, I've come to certain realisations about being SAd in my youth and started to realise how traumatised I really am from it. Its affected so much of my life in ways I'd never really noticed. I've never spoken to a professional about it as I didnt take it/myself as seriously as I should have.

I want to talk to someone about it, so I can address and reflect on it all properly. Just some counselling really - so I went to my GP about it, who re-referred me to Adult MH; who came back to say that SA Trauma therapy is something they no longer offer.

Okay, nevermind, I only really wanted to talk through it with someone anyway- so I try Health in Mind. Upon talking to them, they say they don't really do counselling, they can offer me a block of CBT for 8 weeks, but they can't offer anything trauma focussed.

I dont have any better options, and although I've had about 20 years of CBT, I agree to go on the wait list anyway to at least be able to speak to a professional about it.

8 months later, yesterday, I get a call saying Ive reached the top of the queue but upon revision they won't be offering me CBT because they dont think its focussed enough for my experience and that they don't want to end up triggering me and making it worse. When asked, they said they didnt really have any other options.

I called the GP today, and have been told there is no one else I can be pointed to in a very brief conversation; and have been left feeling utterly unheard.

Are there any other routes I can take without having to save up to try and get some private sessions?

I *really* just want some basic counselling; someone to sit and talk through my experience with me so I can better process and understand it, and how its affected me. I have the CBT/DBT skills to deal with it already, I just need to verbally process it and its far too harrowing to do with any loved ones. Ive made this all very clear to my GP so many times now and I just keep getting sent in circles.

Background: been under CHMT on/off for 15 years now (CAMHS before that), tried multiple rounds of different therapies, tried more medications that I can count (antidepressants alone are in the double digits). Now seeking autism & adhd diagnoses but the assessments are a long way off. In the meantime all the support I have is CMHT.

Stuck in a cycle of avoiding seeking help because of past bad experiences with CMHT, trying to help myself instead > finally breaking down and seeking help from CMHT > CMHT then being unhelpful at best and traumatising at worse > me being left feeling even worse, disengaging and riding it out with mental breakdowns/SH until I exhaust myself and go back to step one

Currently at the stage in the cycle where CMHT are being unhelpful and I’m wanting to disengage but I’m so tired of this.

I think I continue to engage with CMHT despite everything because

1. Most importantly, I have a child and I want professionals to be aware of my deteriorating mental health for her sake

2. I also want them to know for my sake; I bottle things up a lot which makes the deterioration worse, and though I can share my struggles with a couple of people from my personal life I don’t want to burden them too much (they are not mental health professionals)

Has anyone here been stuck in the same cycle and managed to free themselves?

I am wondering if anyone else is in this situation? In my area CPN’s are only for people with bipolar, schizophrenia etc. My mental health social worker acts as my CPN, I text her all the time and she is available most days for a phone call if not several. The previous city I lived my CPN was a MH nurse.

For anyone who has any experience with being In one or maybe if you are knowledgeable in this area, I'd appreciate any help you can give.

Currently I'm extremely depressed and suicidal, and to be honest it's got the point where it's making me physically tired.

I can't see myself being able to work anytime soon, I've been completely burnt out of life essentially. Most likely due to my CPTSD and Autism. I just can't keep up, me trying to compete and catching up to other people isn't realistic anymore, I can't work these rubbish jobs while being suicidal. It's living hell.

I feel like I want to escape from where I am and just go somewhere, I need a new environment . I was thinking maybe a mental hospital might help with me just resetting, maybe making friends, and getting the help I need.

Unfortunately these hospitals don't have the best reputations from what I've read. Some are ok and some are awful. So I'm wondering if anyone has any advice?

being trapped in a constant physical symptoms loop of anxiety and not being able to go out

For this whole year and he last ive been under my cmht and all theres been thus far with them is assessment purgatory. From me there has been many written notes detailing my inner state of complete anger and hopelessness. Ive explicitly stated id like to try therapy, but they just constantly want me to explain 'why', as if that's my job. Like, i dont know, im completely isolated from human contact and it has visibly and significantly worsened me over the course of many years, and it's not going to end, especially when im not being given the help i think would work. The thing with therapy not being given is something to do with there not being enough stability in my life for therapy to have a good impact, but then that same refusal for help is what is ruining my life, having no one to talk to. So i get worse, think the next assessment will lead to anything, come away extremely defeated, cycle repeats. As if i can just fix the stability issue, fix my shit life first, 'then' therapy comes in. I dont know. This is the stupidest fucking bullshit ive ever put up with. I am never going to get better. There is no help. EDIT: I know this because of my appointment today, which was just another fruitless questionnaire, as if the main point of stringing me along is to prove i am suffering and cannot establish enough of a life for myself. Its just torture. My mental health worsens because no one will help me no one will help because theres no stability, and no help means my capacity and motivation will just plummet. Theres just nothing i can do now. Its over.