If you are having thoughts of suicide, are harming yourself or have thought about self-harm, it’s important to tell someone.

These thoughts and feelings can be complex, frightening and confusing, but you do not have to struggle alone.

If you cannot wait to see a doctor and feel unable to cope or keep yourself safe, contact one of the organisations below to get support right away.

If you need urgent help as you are in mental health distress, then there is always someone you can call.

Our Mental Health Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling 0800 953 0110. It is staffed by trained mental health professionals who can provide assessment and referrals to appropriate services. Ring it if you need to access services or for advice about someone who needs treatment or support.

Are you a young person in crisis?

Text the YoungMinds Crisis Messenger for free 24/7 support across the UK if you are experiencing a mental health crisis. 

If you need urgent help, text YM to 85258.

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

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Tel: 0808 802 5544

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Sign up for Stress Control Course

Talking Therapies is part of the NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative, offering free and confidential talking therapy and practical support for adults with common mental health problems including anxiety and depression. This FREE service is available to all patients registered with a GP practice and is open to people aged 17 and over.

After your needs are assessed, you will be offered the most appropriate care with a trained professional, which may include talking therapy to help you manage your current mental health problem including:

• Stress and anxiety
• Sleep problems
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Depression including pre and post-natal.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Living with a long-term condition such as diabetes, heart disease, chronic pain or IBS.
• Providing care for a loved one, friend or family member

Treatment sessions may be by phone, online, in groups or face-to-face. Treatment options are based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which is a structured therapy where you will set goals you want to reach and work on changes you can make to patterns of thoughts and behaviours to help you attain your goal. 

Talking Therapies is not an emergency service, if you are in mental health distress and need urgent help you can call our crisis line on 0800 953 0110 or Samaritans on 116 123, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

You can contact your local Talking Therapies team using the details below

Hyndburn Office

Telephone: 01254 226 007

Main office address: The Mount Whalley Rd, Accrington BB5 5AD

Our Mind plan helps you build a practical plan you can use to help maintain and improve your mental health and wellbeing. By answering this short quiz, the Every Mind Matters widget gives you five actions that can help you feel more in control, deal with stress and anxiety, boost your mood and improve your sleep.

Depression is more than a few days of feeling miserable or exhausted.

When depressed, you feel persistently unhappy for weeks or months, as opposed to just a few days, when most people experience periods of melancholy.

Some people believe that depression is a trivial condition and not a legitimate health issue. They are mistaken; this is a real disease with legitimate symptoms. Depression is not a sign of frailty or something you can “pull yourself together” to overcome.

The good news is that with the proper treatment and support, the majority of depressed individuals can recover completely.

If low mood is affecting your daily life or causing you distress, call NHS 111, talk to your GP or refer yourself to our local talking therapies (IAPT) service.

Urgent help

If you cannot wait to see a doctor and feel unable to cope or keep yourself safe, it’s important to get support – services are still open during the coronavirus outbreak.

Get urgent help

Anxiety is a mild or intense sensation of unease, such as worry or fear.

Everyone experiences anxiety at some point in their lives; for instance, you may feel anxious about taking an exam, undergoing a medical examination, or attending a job interview. It is perfectly normal to experience anxiety during such situations.

However, some individuals struggle to control their anxieties. Their anxiety is more persistent and frequently interferes with their daily lives.

Anxiety can affect both your body and mind.

The effect on your mind can include:

• a feeling of dread or fearing the worst
• feeling on edge or panicky
• difficulty concentrating
• irritability
• feeling detached from yourself or the world around you

Physical feelings can include:

• restlessness
• feeling dizzy or light-headed
• wobbly legs or pins and needles in your hands and feet
• shortness of breath or hyperventilating
• heart palpitations (a noticeably strong, fast heartbeat)
• nausea (feeling sick)
• needing the toilet more or less often
• sweating
• sleep problems
• panic attacks

Anxiety can also have behavioural effects. You may isolate yourself from friends and family, feel unable to go to work, and avoid certain locations. Although avoiding situations can provide temporary respite, the anxiety usually returns the next time you encounter it. Avoiding it reinforces the sensation of danger and prevents you from determining whether your fears are justified.

Some individuals with anxiety may appear to be in good health, despite experiencing several of the above symptoms. You may have learned to conceal your apprehension so that others do not notice it.

Urgent help

If you cannot wait to see a doctor and feel unable to cope or keep yourself safe, it’s important to get support – services are still open during the coronavirus outbreak.

Get urgent help

The sensation of being under excessive mental or emotional strain is stress.

When you feel unable to manage, pressure becomes stress. People react differently to tension, so a situation that is stressful for one individual may be motivating for another.

Many of life’s demands, including work, relationships, and financial issues, can cause tension. When you’re stressed, it can be difficult to meet these demands, and it can even impact everything you do.

Stress can affect how you feel, think, behave and how your body works. In fact, common signs of stress include: 

• sleeping problems
• sweating
• loss of appetite
• difficulty concentrating

You may also:

• feel anxious
• feel irritable
• have low self esteem
• have racing thoughts
• worry constantly or go over things in your head
• lose your temper more easily
• drink more
• act unreasonably

You may also experience: 

• headaches
• muscle tension or pain
• dizziness

Recognising your stress triggers

If you’re not sure what’s causing your stress, keep a diary and make a note of stressful episodes for 2 to 4 weeks. Then review it to spot the triggers.

Things you might want to write down include:

• the date, time and place of a stressful episode
• what you were doing
• who you were with
• how you felt emotionally
• what you were thinking
• what you started doing
• how you felt physically
• a stress rating (0-10 where 10 is the most stressed you could ever feel)
• You can use the diary to:
• work out what triggers your stress.
• work out how you operate under pressure.
• develop better coping mechanisms.

Doctors sometimes recommend keeping a stress diary to help them diagnose stress.

Breathing and relaxation exercises

Numerous individuals find that exercises that emphasize breathing, and muscle relaxation are beneficial for relieving tension. The following playlist will help you comprehend how stress functions and begin to feel better. These exercises can be performed anywhere and are intended to help you feel more relaxed in general, as well as when you begin to feel overwhelmed.

This playlist is available for free download and streaming via the Soundcloud website or app. If there are specific exercises that work best for you, you can download and listen to them individually. When listening for the first time, it is best to commence at the beginning.

Steps for Stress

Mental health conditions can affect individuals of all ages, but we offer specialised services for children and adolescents up to the age of eighteen.

If you’re a young person and you’re concerned about your mental health, there is help available. You may want to attempt the following things.

• Talk to someone about how you feel, such as a parent, friend or adult you trust. Our page on friendship has ideas on opening up to a friend.
• Visit your local Mental Health Practitioner. They can answer any questions you have about how you’re feeling, talk you through various support options, and refer you to other services that could give you more help.
• Get in touch with services and organisations that assist people with mental health problems. Visit ‘organisations that can help’ below for support that is specifically for young people.

Mind has lots of information for young people about understanding your feelings, how to get assistance and support, what happens when you visit your GP, looking after yourself and more.

Some children and teens are more likely than others to have mental health problems because of certain risks. But having them doesn’t mean that a child will definitely or even probably have mental health problems in the future.

Among these things are:

• Having a physical illness for a long time
• A parent who has had mental health problems, drinking problems, or has been in trouble with the law. 
• The death of someone close to them
• Split parents or divorce
• Severe bullying or abused physically or sexually.
• Discrimination 
• Poverty or homelessness
• Taking on adult tasks, like taking care of an adult family member
• having problems at school for a long time

What mental health problems commonly occur in children?

• Depression affects more children and young people today than in the last few decades. Teenagers are more likely to experience depression than young children.
• Self-harm is a very common problem among young people. Some people who experience intense emotional pain may try to deal with it by hurting themselves.
• Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) can cause young people to become extremely worried. Very young children or children starting or moving school may have separation anxiety.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can follow physical or sexual abuse, witnessing something extremely frightening or traumatising, being the victim of violence or severe bullying or surviving a disaster.
• Children who are consistently overactive, impulsive and have difficulty paying attention may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Eating disorders usually start in the teenage years and are more common in girls than boys. The number of young people who develop an eating disorder is small. Still, eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa can have serious consequences on their physical health and development.

What can I do about my child’s welfare?

One of the most important ways parents and guardians can assist their children is by listening to them and considering their emotions seriously. They may want an embrace, assistance in making a change, or assistance with practical matters.

Typically, children and adolescents’ negative emotions subside. However, it is advisable to seek assistance if your child is distressed for an extended period of time, if their feelings prevent them from moving forward with their lives, if their distress disrupts family life, or if they repeatedly exhibit age-inappropriate behaviours.

If your child is experiencing difficulties at school, a teacher, school nurse, school counsellor, or educational psychologist may be able to provide assistance. Otherwise, consult your physician or a health visitor. If necessary, they can refer a minor for further assistance. Various professionals frequently collaborate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

The NHS, your child’s school, or the social services department of your local council provide the majority of free mental health care for children and adolescents.

Call Young Minds’ Parents’ Helpline if you are concerned about a minor under the age of 25. They offer guidance, emotional support, and referrals to other services.

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Tel: 0800 11 11

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Tel: 0808 802 5544

You could text the YoungMinds Crisis Messenger if you need support. A trained volunteer will text with you to help you think through your feelings and signpost you to other support.

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Mental Health Helpline for Urgent Help – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Tel: 0808 802 55 44

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Tel: 116 123

Central Office telephone: +44 (0)20 8394 8300

Find out more about talking therapies

Urgent help

If you cannot wait to see a doctor and feel unable to cope or keep yourself safe, it’s important to get support – services are still open during the coronavirus outbreak.

Get urgent help

A ‘perinatal’ mental health issue is one that you can have at any point during your pregnancy or for up to a year following childbirth.

A major life event is becoming a parent. A variety of emotions are normal to feel both throughout pregnancy and after giving birth. However, if any challenging emotions start to significantly impact your daily life, you may be dealing with a perinatal mental health issue.

This could be a brand-new mental health issue or a recurrence of an old one.

The ‘baby blues’ is a brief period of feeling low, emotional and tearful after giving birth. It doesn’t last for more than two weeks after giving birth.

If your symptoms last longer or start later, you could have postnatal depression. It can start any time in the year after giving birth and may begin gradually or suddenly. It can range from mild to severe.

It might be difficult to talk about how you’re feeling. You may feel people expect you to be happy or worry you’re a bad parent if you tell someone you’re depressed. Remember that postnatal depression can happen to anyone and isn’t your fault. It’s never too early or late to get help.

The symptoms of postnatal depression are similar to the symptoms of depression. They include:

• feeling sad or low
• being unable to enjoy things that normally bring you pleasure.
• tiredness or loss of energy
• poor concentration or attention span
• low self-esteem and self-confidence
• disturbed sleep, even when your baby is asleep.
• changes in appetite

You may feel detached from your baby or partner. You may even have thoughts of hurting yourself or your baby. It can be very frightening to have thoughts of harming your baby but remember, this doesn’t mean you’re actually going to hurt them. The sooner you can talk to someone about your thoughts and feelings – a friend, relative, doctor or midwife, for instance – the sooner you can get the help you need.

Only people who have given birth in the last year can be formally diagnosed with postnatal depression, but evidence suggests partners can also experience anxiety or depression. This is a huge life change for them too, and dealing with a lack of sleep, extra household responsibilities and financial worries, for example, can be very difficult.

If you have symptoms of postnatal depression, speak to your GP, health visitor and/or midwife. It’s never too late to seek help: you can feel better even if you’ve had symptoms for a long time.

Different help is available depending on how severe your symptoms are.

Talking therapy

You could be offered a self-help course or talking therapy. You can refer yourself for talking therapy in England.

Specialist services

Specialist services are available if you need more support. These include:

• perinatal mental health services with specialist nurses and doctors who can help you get the right support.
• community mental health teams (CMHTs). They can help if there aren’t any perinatal mental health services in your area.
• mother and baby units (MBUs). These are psychiatric wards in hospitals that can give you treatment and support as well as help you care for your baby. You’ll have your own bedroom with a cot for your baby.

Referrals

Guidance and advice can be obtained by ringing the Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team Duty Worker Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm excluding bank holidays.

Email: PennineSpecialistPerinatalCMHT@lscft.nhs.uk

Pennine telephone: 01254 612 731

Inclusion Criteria

• Preconception advice for Service users who have currently or who have had in the past a severe mental health problem and are of childbearing age.
• Service users who are pregnant or who have given birth within the last 24 months with a history of moderate to severe mental health problems who may be at risk of relapse.
• Service users who are pregnant or who have given birth within the past 24 months who develop a perinatal mental health crisis. When this is identified, a referral should be made for an urgent assessment through the local Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team within office hours or through Home Treatment Teams / Mental Health Liaison or equivalent out of hours.
• Assessment, advice and treatment will be in collaboration with the woman’s usual mental health team with the emphasis in most cases being on providing specialist input rather than taking over care.

Exclusion Criteria

• Service users who are pregnant or who have given birth within the past 12 months who present with mild anxiety or depression. In these instances, a referral should be made through to access appropriate psychological therapies.
• Service users who have a primary diagnosis of substance misuse unless there is a comorbid significant perinatal mental health problem.
• Service users presenting exclusively with adjustment disorders in response to complex social problems.
• Service users presenting with exclusively adjustment disorders in response to traumatic birth, foetal loss or primary non-complex tocophobia.
• Service users who will not be the primary care giver.

Useful resources

• The Association for Postnatal Illness can connect you to someone who has recovered from postnatal mental illness.
• Family Action and Family Rights Group both offer a range of practical and emotional support for parents.
• National Childbirth Trust offers information and support during pregnancy and early parenthood, including antenatal courses and local meetups.
• PANDAS offers support to anyone experiencing perinatal mental health problems. They have a helpline, support groups and tips on self-care.

Urgent help

If you cannot wait to see a doctor and feel unable to cope or keep yourself safe, it’s important to get support – services are still open during the coronavirus outbreak.

Get urgent help

All of us must take care of our health, but those who suffer from severe mental illness (SMI) need to take extra precautions. Bipolar disorder or schizophrenia will most likely be diagnosed in people with SMI. You may be more susceptible to some health issues due to your medications and way of living. The good news is that you are entitled to an annual health check-up where you can receive guidance and assistance.

What will happen when I have my yearly physical?

An expert healthcare professional will carry out the health examination. If you are receiving care from a specialised team, this may be done at your general practitioner’s office, in the community by mental health specialists, or by your community mental health team.

They will:

• Weigh you and/or measure your waist. This is to see if you are at risk of developing diabetes, heart attack or stroke. Being too heavy can also increase your chance of getting other physical problems. 
• Measure your blood pressure. Raised blood pressure can contribute to heart attack and stroke.
• Take a blood test to check your cholesterol and sugar levels, and make sure they aren’t too high. Raised cholesterol can also increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. High blood sugar can mean you have diabetes.

You will also discuss:

• Side effects of medication
• Smoking, alcohol and use of non-prescription drugs
• Exercise and diet
• Other health problems
• What help you have or need at home?
• How you keep yourself well

Further information

The Good Health Guide is full of practical information and helpful tips for people severely affected by mental illness. The Professionals who do your physical health check will also be able to advise you on ways to improve your physical health and link you to organisations and services in your local community who can help.

Good Health Guide

Urgent help

If you cannot wait to see a doctor and feel unable to cope or keep yourself safe, it’s important to get support – services are still open during the coronavirus outbreak.

Get urgent help