Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I am really struggling right now and considered ringing 111 for urgent mental health help... but I just don't know if it is going to do any good or just cause more stress. Does anyone have experiences of ringing 111? Was it useful? I am severely burnt out, exhausted and in desperate need of a break, but I have to still meet one deadline by next week (an interview and presentation which could possibly do some good in long term and which I spent a lot of energy on over past weeks..) and then there is work... I am physically also in a fragile state as well as mentally being completely out of it- just can't focus, have no energy or motivation at all and just so frustrated that I seem to almost hate things I normally love. I keep crying because I feel so desperate and can't see a way forward and I am so worried about the future and if I will ever cope with a PhD or a full time job... I just feel like such a failure and so lazy that I can't seem to get the energy together for this final push... but then the issue is that it never stops. And I just don't see myself coping with my job much longer either (i don't like it and it has been very intense).... Sorry. I am rambling on. So sorry for being such a mess.
Hi. 111 is hit and miss in my experience.
your local crisis would be more supportive
Hi, I thought I would just update everyone in case it is useful. So I didn't ring 111 that day but a few days later I filled out their online tool in the night and within 10 minutes a nurse called me back. They then made sure I was called by a GP the next day (after I contacted my surgery). This resulted in me getting some time off work. I am glad that reaching out to 111 made it easy to access GP help because over the past months the way that my GP surgery has been handling appointments has made it incredibly difficult for people to access help, especially people like me who are autistic and struggling with mental health. I started reaching out for help in September and was only seen in January. I filled out their online form 4 times. It was ignored on several occasions and often noone picks up the phone (I once waited 37 min only to be hung up on). Now they have severely limited the hours during which their online consulting tool is open (and this is pretty much the main way of contacting the GP) but they do not state the opening times of the tool on the website... only that it is closed... Sorry... I didn't mean to go on and on about the issues of accessing GP care... I understand they are short staffed but I feel like they are not thinking about how their policies for accessing care might be making it particularly hard for vulnerable groups to access help.
Thanks so much for everyone's support. Things still aren't easy but I am trying to figure it out... and it is so nice to feel supported by all of you.