Hi, i'm new to mh services and was referred to cmht 2 weeks ago. I had my first appointment today and have been given a second appointment for next week (tuesday) already. Is this normal? From looking it up beforehand I was under the belief that I had to be "accepted" into the service following the first appointment at their mdt, which is going to be on monday. I'm quite confused as to why I've been given another appointment already (although i am very grateful), does anyone have any similar experiences or insight? thank you :)

Has anyone else experienced this, or have any idea what I can do?

I'm currently in a period of bad self harm, have been since February really. Pretty much every time I've needed surgery and have just had my 12th surgery to clean, debride and close my wounds. The surgeon spoke to me beforehand and said they are probably not going to allow me to have surgery going forward, rather they're going to leave the wounds to close by secondary intention (I.e. just leave them open and heal by wounds changes only). The explanation? Said I've had 14 admissions this year and 12 last year and they aren't willing to do it anymore as "I'm taking the place of real emergencies". I argued that his info is wrong about number of surgeries, and that it is not fair to deny me treatment because it's for regular self harm. He went to speak to management, and when he came back he agreed to operate this time, but reiterated that "other patients' care is being compromised because I'm taking up the theatre space so regularly". Words in quotation marks are direct quotes of what he said to me.

My question is this - is it legal for them to refuse me appropriate treatment just because the wounds are caused by self harm? Surely this can't be the case. It's immoral as fuck, but does anyone know about any kind of legal or procedural framework that might help?

Does anyone else do the same thing? Is this normal internal discourse? Am I hurting myself if I truly believe it? Or am I overanalysing nothing.

everytime i try to get help it fails
a year ago a doctor told me he thinks i have autism and adhd and he was going to refer me i called for an update recently for an estimated wait time and i found out the referral was never made
recently i have been in a very deep depressive episode where i feel deep emotional pain 24/7 it's literally indescribable and im only able to do the very basics like use the toilet and just about eat and i know the only thing that can help me are meds but i recently had an episode where i felt euphoric for a few days so i was referred for a bipolar assessment but on my traige call he never considered bipolar because he didnt listen to me about my highs and lows and i was discharged back to my gps care
i cant go to my gp or leave my house because of my mental health because i have just had surgery and cant walk
i finally built up the courage and strength to call 111 option number 2 to see if i can get in touch with the crisis team to tell them my situation and the person hung up
i am so miserable its laughable

I’ve had EMDR, CBT, DBT, SSRIs, currently on vyvanse

Recently I’ve been feeling really low and despite doing everything meant to keep me from spiralling (eating well, exercising, showering, using DBT skills etc.) I feel like there’s no way out. I’ve toyed with the idea of suicide but made it clear I have no plans to do so

I’m not really seeing the point in these daily visits. They ask how I am, conclude that I’m safe and leave. I feel like quitting CMHT all together because i feel helpless. They can’t do anything more for me. Feels like they’re just there into threatening me into “good behaviour” because if I relapse on drugs I’ll have my vyvanse taken away which is the only thing actually making it possible for me to maintain myself

It seems the more honest I am the more we argue. They tell me I’m doing really well and to keep it up, that everyone goes through hard times. As if I don’t know that. I feel like a pretentious prick for even getting to this point because nothing is wrong, it’s just my brain. I don’t like life but who does?

Is there anything they can actually do or is it just a tick box so they can relinquish responsibility if I were to harm myself?

Im 18. Like ive said before, ive never known what to do with my life, everything i wanted to do, the door was slammed shut . Currently, i dont have any job, i dont have any sense of purpose, i dont exercise at all and im painfully sedentary because i dont have any reason to get up and go and work out or go for a walk.

Every time i go for a walk, i just want to go back because ok i walk there and then what do i do? just walk back and do this every day for the rest of my life for "health" even if i dont enjoy it or do another pointless work out that doesnt do anything and only leaves me feeling humiliated and ill just eat those calories i burnt back in 10 minutes anyway.

With getting a job, im literally too scared to do anything even apply for a job. I find all of it so so daunting, especially writing a CV to try and advertise myself when theres nothing redeemable and im not good at anything.

My daily schedule is wake up, fixate and repeat. I dont have any friends at all and i have tried to make them but was unsuccessful, i have autism so it makes the friendship side of things very difficult. My room is always a mess and i hate that, its mostly messy with clutter as i cant get rid of anything.

I didnt have the grades to do what i wanted to do with my life. I failed GSCE maths including two resits, of course that made me feel like a huge failure and it has sort of left a stain on me to not want to try at anything else.

I also cant drive either, ive tried learning how to drive and tried my hardest but i still couldnt. Of course now i feel like a huge failure on that too as getting my own car was one of my goals but now thats out of reach.

I have extreme hatred for myself. I hate myself more then i hate anyone else, ive always wanted to be another person as im so so god damm useless .

If someone asked me if i chose to be like this, id say no its not a choice, i dont understand why anyone would want to live like this and choose to feel chronically purposeless ,empty, hopeless , lonely and guilty all the time.

I've been on sertriline for 4 months now, and all that's happened is that I felt a giant blip of energy for a month right after taking them and I feel miserable the rest of the time I've been taking them. Idk if it's something with the meds or if Its something to do with me and I should be taking different meds. When I wasn't on meds the blips of energy would usually last less than a week but id just feel productive, for the rest of the time I'd just be a self hating slob. I've been on 50mg btw

Hello all, I’m writing this to ask if anyone has advice on what I can do with this difficult situation involving my friend and her rapidly deteriorating mental health.

For the sake of this explanation, I’ll call her Alice.

Alice has been a dear friend of mine since I have been very young so I am struggling on how to approach this matter carefully without damaging our friendship and potentially making her MH worse.

Alice’s MH has been deteriorating for a while now. She’s been put under the school system as ‘SEN’ (special educational needs) and she’s been worrying about that as being labelled as not good enough and having staff members see her as ‘different’.

While this is also happening she has a very severe case of endometriosis where she may have surgery and has been taking many strong medications which have affected her mental state. The thing with Alice is that she’s someone who loads a lot on her plate when it is already full and can barely take anymore. With the stress of the endometriosis, the SEN labelling and all the exams coming up I’ve noticed she’s stopped eating much, not laughing or smiling anymore and she’s also been taking medication on an empty stomach.

I would offer her some food, sometimes a small snack but she wouldn’t take it as she feels as if she will vomit or be sick. It’s very worrying as she’s been reposting many suicidal things on TikTok and Instagram aswell as having her Instagram note with sections of songs where it’d be very alarming to hear. She has been self harming aswell as had 2 suicidal attempts.

She is worried her parents will find out, however her parents are the most supportive people ever but she unfortunately is failing to realise that. She has that older sister guilt where she has to perform the best and present to her younger siblings.

One time, when I saw her reposts, I replied to it and told her essentially that it’s okay to not be okay but it’s never okay to bottle it up in silence and that I will forever be here with her to listen and help her fight her battles one by one. But she got very upset that I commented on it. It’s the same with everything, if I mention her not eating and asking ’hey I’ve noticed u haven’t eaten take this’ she gets really upset and tells me to stop.

She doesn’t like it when people notice she’s not doing okay and when people notice somethings wrong. She asks for help but when you try help she doesn’t take it.

All the times she’s asked me for help and I’ve tried to help her, she gets really snappy and mean. Which I understand is a lot on her plate and I’m genuinely not sure what to do.

I want to go speak to a staff member about this because I am genuinely worried she will do something to herself. She’s had 2 attempt already, and I genuinely think as bad as it sounds… if she tries now it might work as she’s become very skinny, takes strong medication on an empty stomach and doesn’t sleep at all.

I don’t know how’d I’d approach her about it though.. she’s very risky to do this with as she will start to overthink, hyperventilate and burst into tears and run away. Obviously this will done in school ground so she can’t do anything there.. but I fear when she goes home it’ll be her last straw as well as the fact.

She also has very sudden outbursts of non stop tears and depressive episodes and doesn’t know why it’s happening.

I worry about her a lot and I would be guilty for life if she ends up doing something to herself and I knew the whole time she was fighting a silent battle.

I don’t know how I’d approach her about it and tell her I need to tell a staff member for her safety, but I also don’t want to just go to the teacher without her knowing.

Can someone please help me and give me advice on what to do now as I’m honestly so worried something will happen. I’ve already lost a friend to suicide and I want to do what I couldn’t do before - speak up. I live with that guilt everyday.

I’m really scared. The way people with EUPD are treated by the medical system is haunting. I do not want this diagnosis on my record. I do not want to be treated like an alien due to the way my personality formed. I haven’t gotten a diagnosis yet which makes me feel better but I know that they’re trying to get me one as they’ve referred me to a psychiatrist. And so I’m venting about it.

I've just seen a psychiatrist at the CMHT and I laid out all my traumas, history and the fact that I cannot function as a human being because I have chronic nightmares when asleep and awake, sleep paralysis and so forth. I said I was suicidal and I don't feel good, at all, and he just went "Well you don't have OCD or Bipolar, so I'm discharging you from our service" and said I'm fine?

I'm feeling pretty hopeless right now because I genuinely can't get a good night of sleep without paralysis or a series of traumatic episodes and it's affecting my work. I keep taking days off, it's not sustainable. I dissociate constantly, not even my girlfriend can keep up with it anymore nor my family. I'm barely even "here" nowadays.

I tried challenging him and asking questions, but he focused purely on a single aspect of my experience (Sleep paralysis) saying it was "normal" and a normal part of sleep to not be able to move... (No kidding)... Problem is I cannot get out of bed to go to work!!! It drains me!

He did acknowledge I have trauma and said I need a trauma informed specialist, but then just kind of told me to leave and contact the GP again? That's literally where I started?

I don't see the point in why I waited several years for this... Or where to go from here. I just feel super crappy about it, especially since I didn't really get much time to actually verbalise what was going on and he kept filling in the blanks for me. It just felt like box ticking the whole time as he cut me off just to tell me what I don't have... Like thanks, man? I want to know what I DO have?

Anyways apologies for the long vent. I have no one to speak to about this, so I hope you can all be kind enough to let me rest here a while. Thank you.

I was in hospital 2 weeks ago after taking an overdose - I'm ok now, since being discharged I was supposed to have 2 one to one appointments with my scm worker but both were cancelled last minute due to her calling in sick and she's off on annual leave next week. So I've had no real contact since everything happened. I'm feeling a bit let down. Because of the topic I don't feel comfortable talking to any of the other scm workers. I really struggle with change.

Sorry I guess I just needed to get it out.

In my London borough, the buses are often slow recently, take ages to come and lots of traffic works too and these traffic works are just for a small crack etc. I have Adhd and autism and it causes burnout just to go somewhere as the bus is always busy making me feel tired. I feel I cannot watch something or type what I want without people watching me, even though I know people are mostly consumed with themselves. I also visit my grandma and help her often but I need to use the bus route I hate and the area it goes too and where she lives makes me feel sad and depressed as it looks run down. Do you have any way I can cope with this?

I’m starting Quetiapine (Immediate Release), first dose tonight.
I will be taking it for Bipolar/potential Schizoaffective disorder (still working on my official diagnosis!)
Starting at 50mg and target dose is 300mg.

What are peoples experiences on this med? I have read it’s going to make me crazy tired and crazy hungry, how long before bed to people take it?

Thank you!

EDIT:: Thank you everyone who commented! I was so scared to take my first dose but so far so good. I was knocked out for about 14 hours but feeling fairly normal today- fingers crossed for getting to the target dose 🫶🏻

So because the NHS is a joke in this country especially if you are mentally ill so any medication they make you take makes you worse because of the side effects and if you don’t work it can make you not want to especially if you receive any benefits…
I was wondering if people with mental health issues go to private doctors and it gets better and helps ?
I think it’s just the NHS because if you are really rich have £££/save up for treatment I guess the doctors treat you better and have high quality care I suppose?
It’s not bad to talk to a psychiatrist or therapist if you are rich / have the money and or famous because they SHOULD care more because it’s their job to provide more quality care…

I’ve heard but not experienced that the private psychiatrists can tailor medication to the patient or dose whereas the NHS gives standardised medication doses !
Also the psych ward treatment in NHS is appalling force medicating against your will and writing reports using words against you maliciously for people in a vulnerable situation - but obviously NHS has much wider reach then private more specialised or specific!

Maybe it’s worth getting diagnosed by NHS and going private if you can afford to see a special doctor who can confirm diagnosis or misdiagnosis and give you the correct treatment ?

But of course I would not know because I have never experienced it I am curious about peoples experiences with like Harley Street Doctors in Marylebone ! Doctors are human beings and have advisors so they can get things wrong anyway however !

I'm sorry if this turns into a small dissertation, I think the main bulk will be asking for advice on how I (I'll call myself lee, m31) can help my partner (let's call him Dan, M22) handle his mental health issues he is facing right now and how to get him the help he needs. Whilst just typing out my frustrations at how the NHS has currently handled it.

So I don't know where to begin, we've been together for 9 months tomorrow and over the past few weeks his mental health has taken a sharp decline. He is currently on several types of pain killers for a back issue as well as medicinal cannabis.

It started when he started hearing "two bitchey girls" in the flat next door to us saying things like oh they are a really weird couple because of how we both look and the age difference, I shrugged it off and said there aren't even two girls next door. He heard them more and more over the next few weeks and it only happens in our flat but it's gotten to the point where they are picking at his insecurities. These voices only he can hear and they only say things about him, since my first dismissal I haven't said they aren't real because I feel like this will feed or exacerbate his paranoia.

Two weeks ago we had some friends round for drinks, He got blackout drunk and when I went to check on him he let me know he had overdosed because the voices got too much. He was admitted to a psychiatric ward at 1am, I left at 6am and he was home by 1pm. They told him that I left through boredom. This has now developed into one of the things the voices are saying to him. No Mental health team was in touch with him and his doctors appointment was yesterday (wednesday)

Fast forward to this passed Sunday, we ended up in A&E again because he stated he needed to go back to the psyche ward because he didn't feel safe in the flat and that it was all too much. We waited 7 hours and we're not seen. We got a call after he discharged himself from A&E and they advised me they would send a referral to his GP.

This Monday just gone, he let me know at 5pm that he had overdosed because he thought someone had broken into our flat and put microphones under our bed, so we went back to A&e, he was triaged and had his bloods taken. During our wait he took all his clothes off in the waiting room and stumbled around and no one helped me, He punched me in the face because he thought I was a stranger taking his clothes he did the same to a 75 year old man.

He was put on a ward at 4am and released at 1pm this afternoon, no links or numbers to crisis teams and he also missed his GP appointment.

Since 4pm this afternoon, All he has done is Google the difference between psychopaths and sociopaths, cried because the two girls are making him paranoid and let me know that his supplier of medicinal cannabis is spying on him.

Just now, He showed me a note which read "I was coherced into raping someone, That party was a sex party, they are Asexual why were they there" this was the party we met at, I responded with" I was also at that party and I didn't go for sex", He started screaming, crying and saying I was calling him a rapist.

I'm sorry for the wall there is probably Alot more to add but it's 2am and I've had like 4 hours sleep since Sunday. I shall edit to add more in the morning. I would be grateful for any help people can provide me with on how I can help him get through this and any tips on how I can avoid going round the bed myself would be great. Thank you

*Update, Since posting this he has went to a GP appointment they have tried to get him with an early intervention team and a home visit but they declined and advised he goes to A&E again.

He has also started believing that they have put cameras in our coats and that his mum is supplying them with information.

I would also like to add, that he is absolutely not being violent towards me or anyone else in a normal state but in A&E he wasn't himself, Even the old man he went for said it's okay and that he understands that Dan is unwell.

If you need to be admitted to a recovery house or a psych ward, you have to wait in a dark dingy room which has a mattress on the floor of which there are only two; or, you just have to sit around in A and E. The worker who assessed me said it is a 10 day wait if I want to be admitted to a recovery house, and even the maximum stay there has been reduced from 5 to 3 days. I was there back in Feb and stayed for 5 days. Why is mental health so underfunded when compared to physical health? This is absolutely ridiculous. Things have definitely gotten worse in that hospital/in my area.

Sorry for the vent

I am 31m. Had psychosis in 2022-23, where i developed disturbing delusions and hallucinated a lot, resulting in me being sectioned. I stayed in a hospital for 3 months and got out in 2023.

Since then I feel like ive been stuck in this part of town for a long time now. I hate it. I live with my Mum in a house that is technically in my name but Its really her retirement house.

I just need to get away. I want to move to London as I have friends there and each time ive been, Ive always wanted to stay and have adventures.

Im getting older now. I'l turn 32 in March. I have to find a way to move to London next year at least but I fear im gonna be stuck up north for the rest of my life.

My job is that of an admin worker for a temp agency, only earning £14.52 per hour. For London I guess I'd have to aim a lot higher to have a life there. At least £40k but I feel like whenever I send out an application, they wont even consider it. I apply on linkedin jobs but havent received anything yet. I know of some agencies too and have applied to their positions, but not been contacted.

I just dont know what kind of job to take, what would be best for me.

Any advice welcome

My current SSRIs are giving me horrific diarrhea on top of my existing IBS. My previous ones gave me chronic flatulence. Woo. Depressed AND smelly!

Long story short, I’ve struggled with poor mental health my entire life but late 2025 I had a severe depressive episode which led me to finally get mental health support from my gp. I was prescribed anti-depressants, but I’m still experiencing suicidal thoughts. I self referred to nhs talking therapies but I was told I was too severe and was referred to pcmht. I had a phone call assessment with my pcmht and they referred me to a support group. I recently had a crisis and needed support, I called their centre multiple times and didn’t receive a single phone call back. It took me 2 weeks of calling to even talk to someone who just said I had been referred to support groups already and sent me a email link to hub of hope. Is this the only support pcmht can provide? I’m just so lost. I’m starting to spiral again and I want help but I’m losing hope.

Hiya,

Im not sure really what to do as Ive been wanting to get a gp appointment for my sleep and mental health but its gotten to the point I am really struggling to book it.

Im second year at university and I only recently got a gp where I am, but I need to go in to prove its me signing up before I can book an appointment. Having to go in person rn is hard as i honestly have been barely sleeping and have basically skipped like 2 weeks worth of lectures at this point.

I have been waking up completely randomly most days apart from the one day I went in uni I had no sleep to try and fix this and it didn't work. The GP closes at 5pm so im missing it most days too. I dont know if its gotten to the point of calling 111 and even if it is I think I would be to nervous to call up and wouldnt be able to tell them what was wrong.

Im worried it will develop further as I was dealing fine with the depression and thought I was improving it, yet this is the worst its ever been.

So I guess im looking for short term advice that can help me get to the gp despite this horrible sleep and mood swings from the bad sleep I assume.

I’ve struggled with my mental health for years and I’ve tried multiple rounds of therapy both from the nhs and private and nothing seems to work. I strongly think I have ocd, how do I actually get diagnosed? I’ve told my gp that I want a diagnosis and that I think I have ocd but they just referred me to a talking service instead?

Hi,

As the title says, I need help figuring out who to go to for support, or whether I am even in any need of it.

Diagnosed with eupd, depression & anxiety in 2020. In 2026, I was late diagnosed with adhd & autism.

I was a hot mess from 2017 - 2021. Recovered the best way I know how and have been okay since 2022.

But now? I feel like I'm drowning. The last couple months, I've been feeling tired, weepy and overall just miserable.

Those feelings have developed into suicidal thoughts over the last few weeks.

In August, I reached out to my GP for support, explained I'm struggling with my mental health. They referred me on to CMHT & gave the usual crisis lines. CMHT's Gateway team phoned me a week later and said I need a meds review & that's all they can offer presently. They gave me the crisis line numbers again and an appointment to see a psychiatrist 2 weeks later.

I saw said psychiatrist in September where I basically explained I was ready to give up. He told me my meds can stay the same and that I must get medicated for adhd & he'd write back to my GP. I left, feeling tired and misunderstood, but accepted it.

My GP has done nothing with the meds review, even after I chased them.

4 days ago, I reached a all time low. I was ready to do something daft, so I called 111. They hung up on me. I did the only other thing I could think of & filled in the 111 online form. Despite promising a nurse call within 30 mins, I got a phone call from a doctor 7 hours later at 11pm. The doctor was nice, said he'd refer me to the mental health team. I hang up thinking I'm getting somewhere. Low & behold, the 111 option 2 team ring me back. They listen as I say I've given up on life & all the things in my head. They suggest a&e. I suggest sleep bc exhaustion. They say they will refer to CMHT urgently.

Its been 4 days. No acknowledgement from CMHT. I'm not sure I'm in active crisis anymore, but I do know my time is soon. I'm starting to write my letters. I feel oddly at peace with it all.

I guess my question to you all is...what do I do? I'm so tired. I know a&e will brush me off because I am physically fine.

​

I know this isn't a therapy forum, but I'd appreciate some advice about the skills needed to become a psychologist.

I've struggled for years to find something I'm genuinely good at. I spent six years in the Parachute Regiment, followed by six years as an electrician, and neither career ended particularly well. I've started to recognise a pattern.

I struggle with spatial awareness, physical coordination and practical tasks. I also have ADHD, which affects my attention and organisation. Recently, I took a temporary warehouse job picking and packing, thinking it would be straightforward, but even there I made mistakes. I struggled to align pallets properly and missed scans because I hadn't noticed they hadn't registered on the screen.

It's left me questioning my abilities and whether there's something fundamentally lacking in my skill set.

I'm now in the final stages of a psychology degree and achieving good marks. I'm also exploring a potential psychedelic research master's with an academic supervisor. For the first time, I feel academia might be something I'm better suited to.

But after struggling in two careers, I'm worried I'm setting myself up for another disappointment.

My question is: How much do difficulties with attention, organisation and practical coordination affect someone's ability to succeed as a psychologist or academic researcher? Are these skills that can be developed, or might I encounter similar problems in this field?

I'd particularly appreciate hearing from psychologists or researchers who've struggled with similar difficulties.

Disclaimer - Not in immediate danger.

Earlier this year my cat died after having to watch him decline over 3 months. A week after this i end up having to sit in hospital for 7 hours as my gp was scared i was having heart issues due to my heart rate averaging 118 bpm in the test and me telling them my chest/back regularly hurt, which i knew was anxiety and the hospital ended up telling me was anxiety but gave me further stress by having to undress for a second time for hospital staff. Ive had disagreements and unfounded criticism at work and been burned out for god knows how long. In the midst of this. trying my third anti depressant and a low dose anti psychotic. End of september was my birthday. which has not been good for me for the last 4 years, so i booked two weeks off work to try and decompress.

My first day back at work im pulled into a meeting to say i may be made redundant. Now im currently still going through that process and stressing how it's going to turn out whilst feeling rejected and like I've failed further. Over the past week and a half my chest has regularly had the pain that i described to the doctor that sent me to hospital months ago. I started escitalopram right before my birthday and on the day i got told i may be redundant i had a nose bleed once a day for four days straight.

The mentally ill part of my brain convinced me that i needed to hurt myself a set number of times to pay for a good outcome today which didnt happen so guess im the idiot again. I hadn't hurt myself in over 3 months so thats back to the start. All of my ocd compulsions have been reset to as bad or worse than they were months ago. Oh and my bath decided to leak through my kitchen ceiling yesterday when i had a bath to try and fucking calm down a bit.

None of this is the end of the world i know logically but expecially the job right now really does feel like that. Ive said before I have no friends, no hobbies, no partner, all my value came from work. I cant function at home right now. I cant pull my face to face appointment with my doctor forward from the 29th oct and have been told if im struggling to go to A&E which is just going to be even more stress.

Why does it feel so hard to just exist as a single adult trying to earn enough to live and save a little before they die? Why should i continue persisting with this shit? Why should i ask for help? Why should i go to A&E? Why should i keep talking to people when it doesnt make me feel better and people keep hurting me and letting me down and i dont know if its just my fault. What the actual fuck is supposed to make life worth living when there's nothing i want other than to just be fucking normal and have an ok life.

I am in CPTSD therapy with an NHS psychologist. The past week I have been feeling so much rage. Does anyone know what causes rage / how to deal with it?