Daughter needs help eith her MH but no GP appointments available

[789vghu8]

My daughter is struggling with her mental health. She has had help from steps to wellbeing last year and has re referred herself. She phoned doctors on Thursday as she is finding it hard to cope with daily tasks now and is so low. They offered her a phone appointment for 2nd October almost 2 weeks away she needs to be seen sooner and she is now in a massive panic as she is trying to seek help like the NHS website says but there is none available.

What can she do to get seen sooner?

Call 111 option 2 and they will help her access support x

Has she tried phoning 111 option 2
That is the best way to access mental health support.

Turn up at A&E if she’s feeling unsafe. If not, call 111 and select the mental health option. X

can she self refer to CAMHS? Google “CAMHS self referral your location”

Thank yiu. She will phone doctors again today to see if she can get seen sooner and if not 111.

Do not call 111 unless she is actively unsafe. They will send her to A&E as they do all mental health calls, where she will be detained for hours until someone can assess her and then sent home with a self referral link for IAPT.

Just go online and do the referral yourself, it will be faster but unless you have the funds for private therapy/psychiatrist, she will be waiting months for any meaningful help.

This is unfortunately the state of the NHS. Mental health provision is almost zero unless you are a threat to yourself or others. Even in that situation, inpatient care is a holding area at best.

If she needs therapy it's a case of private or worse than nothing. You get 6 sessions, with wait times of up to 18 months, depending on your area and then have to go back on the list if you need more (this will not necessarily be with the same therapist) or a referral to secondary care. Secondary care referrals are faster but still several months.

My son's experience was different from that of @Balloonhearts above. Maybe depends on your area? We called 111 option 2, got excellent first stage MH support - rapid assessment, antidepressants, a bit of a sense of a plan. He was very unwell. I'd give them a call as a first try.