Mental health services

Looking after your mental health

If you’ve not been feeling yourself for a while, take time to find out more about mental health, how you can improve your mood and discover local services which are available to help.

If you’re feeling low, there are steps you can take at home to help lift your mood.

The NHS 5 steps to mental wellbeing are designed to help you stay connected with others, activate your brain, and make you feel good. Trying these things could help you feel more positive and able to get the most out of life.

• Connect with other people
• Be physically active
• Learn new skills
• Give to others
• Pay attention to the present moment (mindfulness)

Learn more about the 5 steps to mental wellbeing and try things that could help you feel more positive and able to get the most out of life.

Getting help from your GP surgery

There are lots of different kinds of healthcare professionals working in your GP surgery, besides your GP. They each have distinct roles and specialist skills.

When you contact the surgery, you will be offered an appointment with the person who is best placed to help your needs. This is why the person you first speak with when you contact the surgery may ask what you need help with.

Mental Health Practitioners

Mental Health Practitioners working in GP surgeries offer mental health support for those who need it.

They also support those people who have been discharged from secondary mental health care because their mental health problem is stable. By having mental health practitioners in surgeries, GPs can now offer their patients mental health support closer to home, in a setting that’s more familiar and less restrictive. And by working alongside GPs, mental health workers can ensure patients receive joined-up physical and mental health support.

Social Prescribers

Social prescribers help with a wide range of emotional and practical matters that may be affecting your health and wellbeing. They have expert knowledge on the support services and groups that are active in your local community and neighbourhood.

By listening to what matters to you, they can help connect you to local groups, services and activities that will support you to make positive changes to your health and wellbeing.

NHS Talking Therapies

NHS Talking Therapies provides a range of support for people with common mental health and emotional issues, such as low mood, depression or stress. All services are free and available to anyone aged 16+. The NHS Talking Therapies service in Norfolk and Suffolk is provided by Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust.

Visit the Talking Therapies website for more information, including how to access this service via self referral, or call 0300 123 1503.

REST Hubs 

REST Hubs are a safe space to get support for mental health and wellbeing in the community – seven days a week. They also provide a place for people when they are in mental health distress or crisis. 

You do not need to be accessing mental health services to get support from these services.

REST Hubs operate on a walk-in basis and provide 1-2-1 and group-based support to people who are experiencing mental health difficulties in a non-clinical environment; support can be accessed by telephone and email. They also help you plan how to stay well and reach your personal goals.

The Rest Hubs are operated by Norfolk and Waveney Mind and located in:

• Aylsham
• King’s Lynn
• Norwich
• Thetford

Mind

Mind offers a wide range of mental health and wellbeing support for adults, designed to help people manage emotional challenges and improve their overall wellbeing.

From support with anxiety and eating disorders to bereavement and menopause. They provide a range of help including counselling, courses, wellbeing groups, evening and night-time telephone services, outdoor activities and specialist programmes, with many options available through self‑referral, and with some services free of charge. Explore Mind services in Norfolk and Waveney and in Suffolk.

Local help for children and young people

Kooth is a service provided for children and young people in Norfolk and Suffolk. It is free, safe and anonymous mental wellbeing support for young people aged 10-18 years.

Support in Norfolk and Waveney

Just One Norfolk is a website packed with helpful information to support families and their children and young people.

Just One Norfolk also handle requests for mental health support for 0-25 year olds across Norfolk and Waveney.

FYI (For Your Information) is a local website designed to support young people with their health and wellbeing.

Transforming Care Navigators are a multidisciplinary team that supports children and young people aged 0–25 with autism and/or a learning disability who are at risk of hospital admission, placement breakdown, or experiencing significant difficulty accessing education, health or community support.

They work alongside existing care teams to help young people and families understand options, access services, and communicate with professionals, ensuring they are involved as much as they want to be. The service is available through referral from anyone and offers practical, personalised support across health, education and social care.

Mental Health Navigators support children and young people up to the age of 18 who are experiencing mental health challenges. Navigators work alongside people’s families, carers and professionals to coordinate care and bring services together. The aim is to make support easier to access, more joined-up, and focused on what matters most to the young person.

Support in Suffolk

The Children & Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing Hub is a central point of contact for mental health concerns for people aged 25 and under. The emotional wellbeing hub provides access to NHS Children and Adolescence Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for families in east and west Suffolk.

The Under 18s Wellbeing Service, provided by NHS Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), offers short-term support for offers support for young people living with symptoms of:

• Anxiety
• Low Mood and Depression
• Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Single Trauma/ Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Phobias i.e. Vomit/ Needle Phobia

Please visit the Suffolk infoLink Community Directory to browse other sources of support in Suffolk.

National organisations

For adults

• The Silver Line – helpline for older people 0800 470 80 90
• MIND – 0300 123 3393
• Samaritans – 116123
• Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) – for men considering suicide 0800 58 58 58
• Maytree – Suicide respite centre 02072 637070
• PAPYRUS – help for people up to age 35 considering suicide 0800 068 41 41
• Relate – relationship advice and counselling
• Eating Matters – as a self-referral route for people needing support with eating issues. (NHS routes will be by referral from professional)
• Alzheimer’s Society – dementia support service
• Every Mind Matters – NHS – simple and practical ways to ease anxiety, manage stress, lift your mood and sleep better
• Action for Happiness – a movement of people taking action to create a happier and kinder world, together.

For children and young people

MindEd for Families, Children and Young People provides safe and reliable advice about young people’s mental health, created by experts and parents together.

Visit the NHS website for more trusted advice and support about mental health for children, teenagers, students and parents.