Mental Health Urgent Support: When You Need Help Now

If you or someone you love is struggling with their mental health, please know this: you are not alone, and urgent help is available.

At Steel Bones, we understand that living with limb loss can bring emotional challenges alongside physical ones. Grief, trauma, anxiety, depression and isolation are real experiences for many in our community. Reaching out for support is a sign of strength — not weakness.

When Is It Urgent?

Seek urgent support if you are:

• Feeling unable to cope or overwhelmed

• Experiencing intense anxiety, panic or distress

• Having thoughts of harming yourself

• Worried someone else may be at risk

• Experiencing a mental health crisis

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.

Call NHS 111 – Press Option 2

If you need urgent mental health support but it’s not a 999 emergency:

Call 111 and select Option 2.

You will be connected to your local NHS urgent mental health helpline. This service is:

• Available 24 hours a day

• Free to call

• Confidential

• Staffed by trained mental health professionals

They can listen, assess your situation, and arrange further support if needed — including crisis teams or urgent appointments.

You do not need to “be bad enough” to call. If you are struggling, that is enough.

‍⚕️ Speak to Your GP

Your GP is often the first step for ongoing mental health support.

They can:

• Discuss how you’re feeling

• Prescribe medication if appropriate

• Refer you to talking therapies (such as NHS Talking Therapies)

• Refer you to community mental health teams

• Provide fit notes if work is contributing to stress

If your situation feels urgent, tell reception it is a mental health crisis — you may be offered a same-day call.

If calling feels hard, consider asking a trusted friend or family member to help you make the appointment.

Other Support Options

• Speak to someone you trust — isolation makes everything heavier.

• Contact a local mental health charity or crisis line.

• If you are under specialist care already, contact your care coordinator directly.

For many amputees, emotional distress can be linked to pain, mobility changes, housing stress or benefits worries. It’s okay to ask for help with the practical things too — they affect mental wellbeing.

❤️ A Gentle Reminder

• You deserve support.

• You are not a burden.

• Things can change.

• Help is available — even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.

If you are reading this and struggling, please consider making that call:
111 – Option 2

Reaching out could be the first step toward feeling safer and supported.