How are you doing?
Find support for what caring is affecting in your own life.
This isn't a test or a diagnosis. Choose what fits and we'll show you practical next steps.
Your choices stay in this page. We don't receive or save them. Leaving or reloading clears them.
You can read the suggestions below without using the check-in.
Support for each concern
Select anything that fits above. If these choices don't cover it, browse support for you. You can ask for help whether or not anything here applies.
Each suggestion links to more detail. Start with what you need help with now.
Get support for your own safety
If you can't keep yourself safe or your life is at risk, call 999 or go to A&E now. For other urgent mental-health help, use the route for your UK nation.
Help for you tonight explains the options. For someone to listen, call Samaritans: 116 123. If you can, tell a trusted person and ask them to stay with you while you get help.
Tell someone how you're feeling
Feeling persistently low or hopeless deserves help for you, as well as support with caring. Contact your GP and explain how you're feeling, how long it's been happening and what it's affecting. Prepare for an appointment about your own mental health.
If you need help tonight, find urgent help and someone to listen.
If you feel frightened, start with safety
In immediate danger, call 999. Move somewhere safer if you can do so safely.
If you're afraid of someone's reaction, you don't have to confront them or announce plans to leave. Get help to work out what is safe. The NHS domestic-abuse support page lists confidential services for women, men and LGBT+ people.
What to do if saying no or leaving could put you in danger, including getting advice without alerting the person. If your browsing may be monitored, use a device you can access safely.
Work out what is interrupting your sleep
If calls or caring tasks keep waking you, ask the care team to review an arrangement that relies on you being awake. If you can't sleep even when you're not needed, or tiredness is affecting daily life, tell your GP about your own sleep as well as the caring situation.
Getting help when caring affects your sleep and health explains what to tell your GP and the care team.
Separate missed meals from a change in appetite
If shopping or cooking isn't happening, a specific request may help: groceries delivered, or someone bringing a meal. Carers Trust's food guide covers food costs, shopping and meals delivered at home.
If your appetite has changed or you're worried about eating and your health, contact your GP. Preparing for an appointment about you helps you describe what has changed and how it's affecting you.
Get the postponed care back in the diary
Contact the surgery or clinic about the appointment or health concern you've put off. Tell them if caring makes it difficult to attend, so you can discuss the options.
If you can't leave because someone depends on your help, use the guide to asking for support when nobody can take over. It sets out who to contact, what to ask for and what to do if cover isn't agreed.
Find contact that fits your situation
If you want company but can't get away, find online groups and forums for friends and family. You can check the format and who each space is for before joining.
If work is being affected, check your rights at work, including leave and flexible working. If you've lost interest in things you used to enjoy, rather than just lacking time, tell your GP how you're feeling.
Make a plan that doesn't depend on you all the time
Separate help that can't safely stop from requests that can wait. For essential tasks, ask services for backup with a clear description of what is needed and when. The guide includes what to do when nobody is available.
If it's safe to discuss your availability, use the examples for changing calls and visits. They include agreeing another route for urgent help, so you aren't left as the only contact.
Find a local carers service
The Carers UK directory lets you look for services across the UK. Check what each service offers and who can use it.
In Dorset? We also have a Dorset support guide. It only covers that area.
About these suggestions
This check-in matches topics to guides. It doesn't measure how unwell or overwhelmed you are, and ticking fewer boxes doesn't mean you need less help.
The safety routes follow NHS urgent mental-health guidance. The suggestions draw on Carers UK guidance on sleep, Carers Trust guidance on eating and NHS domestic-abuse guidance. The linked guides give further sources. Wording and routes checked: 1 October 2026. This is not a clinically validated questionnaire.