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Support for you · Getting help

Getting help for your own mental health

The appointment or referral is about how you are doing, even if the pressure began with someone else's illness.

Start with your own symptomsTell the GP or service what has changed in your sleep, mood, concentration, appetite, work or ability to manage daily life, and how long it has been happening.
Need help now? If you are in immediate danger, call 999 or go to A&E. In England, call NHS 111 and select the mental-health option for urgent help that is not an immediate emergency.

Your GP

Book an appointment for yourself. You can explain the caring situation, but keep bringing the conversation back to its effect on you.

At the appointment“Supporting someone has been affecting my sleep and mood for several weeks. I am struggling to manage work and ordinary daily tasks, and I need help for myself.”

Carers UK advises telling your GP that you are a carer and discussing the effect of caring on your health.

Sources: Carers UK and NHS
Carers UK: looking after yourself and NHS: accessing mental-health services.

NHS Talking Therapies in England

You can usually refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression without first speaking to a GP. Services are normally for people aged 18 or over, or 16 or over in some areas. Some areas may accept a self-referral from someone who is not registered with a GP.

Find NHS Talking Therapies
Source: NHS
NHS service finder and eligibility information. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different routes.

Counselling through a carers service

Carers Trust says some local carers services offer counselling. Availability varies, so use its postcode finder or ask your council which carers organisation covers your area.

Counselling for carersFind a local carers service
Source: Carers Trust
Carers Trust counselling guidance.

Prepare three points before you contact a service

  1. What has changed for you.
  2. How long it has been happening.
  3. What it is stopping you from doing.

You do not need to prove that the other person has a diagnosis. The purpose is to describe your own health and the support you need.

If you need practical help as well

A carer's assessment is separate from medical treatment. It looks at the effect of caring on your life and whether practical support may help. Work rights, benefits and local services may also reduce the pressure behind your symptoms.

Rights and practical helpReduce the loadFind peer support
Source: NHS
NHS: carer's assessments.

Here for Someone is an independent information project. It is not a helpline or medical service. This page organises public guidance from the organisations linked beside the relevant information; it has not been clinically reviewed by Here for Someone.

Sources checked: 27 August 2026

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