Mental Health

Getting help for my mental health and how to access support

What does getting help for my mental health mean and how do I access it?

Asking for help is not only brave, but also vital for either maintaining good mental health or recovering from and managing mental ill-health. On this page we provide information on different ways to get help for your mental health and how to access this support.

Children’s Mental Health Week is taking place on 7-13 February 2022. This year’s theme is Growing Together. This is a time to be encouraging children (and adults) to consider how they have grown, and how they can help others to grow. There are free resources which will help you take part in the week. All of the ideas can be adapted for use in school, for home-schooling, online lessons or independent learning- find these at

mailchi.mp/annafreud/schools-in-mind-feb-2022-450536?e=48e70a43e1

Mental Health Support in Gateshead 

A list of various support agencies available in Gateshead can be found here: tims.nhs.uk

A collection of Wellbeing and Mental Health Resources and Services in Gateshead can be found at Signpost NENC | A hub for North East services.

Gateshead Talking Therapies:  

www.gatesheadtalkingtherapies.nhs.uk/

A team of experienced workers support people to enable them to overcome their problems when they feel anxious, depressed or stressed.

Gateshead Talking Therapies offer a free and confidential NHS service for people aged 16 and over who are registered with a GP in Gateshead.  They provide a range of psychological therapies to help you feel better if you’re anxious, depressed, stressed or worried. They offer information courses, therapy groups and one-to-one therapy, have been operating for over 10 years within the NHS and have built up a qualified and experienced workforce.  Their therapies are evidence based as recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Therapies are delivered from Blaydon Primary Care Centre, Gateshead Health Centre, The Croft (Wrekenton), as well as a number of GP surgeries and other community health bases across Gateshead.

Single Point of Access

Access to this service is designed to be simple and easy, the criteria for acceptance is:

• The child or young person must be within our age range 0-18 years
• They must either be presenting with some degree of psychological distress or mental health difficulty. This includes children and young people in special circumstances (**) whereby advice, consultation and/or support is being sought
• They must have been seen by the referrer who will undertake an assessment of need prior to referral. This will help us to prioritise cases where necessary
• They must have given informed consent to the referral being made

SPA referral form

Suicide and self harm prevention

The National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) published a report in October 2021 outlining the figures and contributing factors surrounding childhood suicide.

There were 108 deaths that were assessed as highly or moderately likely to be due to suicide, where the child or young person died between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, equating to approximately 2 deaths of children and young people, aged 17 years and under, every week in England.

Information and support is available at the following websites:

www.signpostnenc.co.uk/

www.zerosuicidealliance.com/training/

www.stopsuicidenenc.org/