I'm sorry to hear that you are going through this. It's incredibly difficult to cope with.
My daughter now 21 presented with these issues when she was 18. Looking back there were signs. She was suicidal and after a serious attempt (overdose) she was admitted to a psychiatric ward where she stayed on and off for about 10 months. She was also self harming and had an eating disorder. She had also been smoking a lot of marijuana.
She saw our GP after the overdose who referred her to the mental health crisis team in A&E who recommended that she be admitted to hospital. It was very worrying but definitely the right decision. She got great support in hospital and to be honest it gave me a break!!
I rang our local mental health telephone line in a state of distress and they offered me 6 counselling sessions free of charge. This helped me enormously. I can't recommend counselling enough. You need help too.
Whilst in hospital she had access to the nurses when she was in crisis (often). She saw her psychiatrist regularly. She also met young people and older who understood what she was going through and bizarre as it sounds it helped to normalise things. Her medication was administered daily and regularly reviewed.She attended Occupational Health and got art therapy. This was all NHS.
On discharge she was referred to our local mental health team and assigned to a community nurse who she sees regularly and she also sees her psychiatrist. Because she was so young she also saw a peer support worker.
Sheffield did a few courses through our local Recovery College. Check if this is available for your daughter. It gave my daughter somewhere to go, meet people and learn strategies to cope. She also got referred (by the mental heath team) to a local art centre a couple of afternoons and week. Again it got her out of the house and got support from the staff.
With medication and support she started an access course 2 evenings a week in our local college. She was doing great until Christmas when she partied way too hard, drinking and smoking dope, had a breakdown and was readmitted to hospital.
She's been out of hospital about 6 months and is doing well (fingers crossed). She works two days a week. She qualifies for PIP on the grounds of her illness.
I won't pretend this is easy because it's not. It is incredibly difficult. Like you I took time off work. That was also a balancing act. Her moods varied hugely at times and she was not exactly co-operative at times. She was very difficult to live with, was argumentative and verbally aggressive. I had to walk away at times.
Because she qualified for PIP she was entitled to rent assistance and recently moved to a small flat nearby. The stress of living together was unbearable at times and living apart has alleviated the tension. We get along much better.
She has got the right combination of medication now. This wasn't easy and it took a lot of time to get it right. There were times that this was really problematic but she seems to have it sussed now.
I recommend you contact any local mental health groups in your area because they can signpost your daughter. My daughter is on an online chat thing (apols excuse me being ancient) where lots of people post and exchange ideas. They met up for lunch recently.
The medication and overeating caused my daughter to put on a lot of weight. She goes to a slimming club and has a personal trainer once a week. It costs £25 per session. The trainer is linked to the hospital but also works privately. It's brilliant because as well as exercises she gives advice on mood etc.
I hope I haven't gone on too long. I was in your shoes and want to help as much as I can.
It has been the single hardest thing I have ever faced. I'm coping well now as a result of the support I got. I hope you can get support for yourself and your daughter. 