I’ve been dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts for nearly a decade now.

I’ve been through numerous therapists and have been seeing my current one for almost a year now.

First if all you need to speak to your GP. This is all confidential, your family will only know if you tell them. You need to be open and honest with the GP, tell them about your self harm and suicidal thoughts. I have never been threatened with any sort of psyc ward. But I suppose it would depend how bad things are? If your suicidal thoughts are only that, and you haven’t made any actual plans or any attempts at suicide, then you won’t be taken to a ward as far as I’m aware.

After speaking to your GP, they may offer some medication/anti depressants such as sertraline. They may also ask if you would like a referral for therapy. (If they don’t ask you. Make sure you bring it up to them). Unfortunately, referral to therapy is different under every council in the UK. Some, the GP will do the referral for you. Others you will have to self refer. In that case the GP should give you a website or a phone number for you to do this. Once referred by the GP or yourself, you will usually hear from someone within a week or so to Have a thorough discussion of your needs so they can find the right type of therapy and therapist for you. Unfortunately, the next part is a waiting game. Again depending on your council there could be a waiting list of several months before you get to speak to an actual therapist. You are usually offered a choice of video call therapy or in person therapy by the way. So pick what suits you.

I don’t know if you are male or female, but there are likly some local support groups in your area targeted at either group. Go onto your app/play store and search for an app called Hub of Hope. That can help you find local support services.

Also, if you have access to private medical cover such as Bupa, therapy may be covered in that. You will need GP referral to provide to Bupa, but they will be able to get you speaking to a therapist within about 1 to 2 weeks of sending your referral.

If you need to ask anymore please feel free to message me.

I’m from germany and I haven’t managed to get to therapy myself yet but from what I’ve read and heard from friends, just try to make an appointment with any therapist and don’t stress on them being the right one. It has to match and they’ll know it and will get you to a therapist that’ll match for you.

I also get this randomly being depressed in the evenings. I’ve noticed that for me it is a mix of mostly being alone and the day ending, I just have a very hard time dealing with things ending.

I’ve started to journal and mostly in the evenings and it really helped me. Of course it’s no substitution for therapy but it get’s me through the evening and sleeping and out of bed in the morning.

Not in the UK, but in the US you would likely not be put in a psych ward for cutting and suicidal thoughts. On the other hand if you say you are going to commit suicide and have a detailed plan for exactly how you are going to do it, and you have the necessary things at home (like gun, pills, etc) then yes there is a good chance you would be recommended to go to a psych ward. If you are in a hospital and say these things, you absolutely will be taken to a psych ward, strapped to a stretcher and put in an ambulance if necessary.

A psych ward sucks, but they will figure out your meds and get you to a better place mentally before releasing you.

But based on your post it doesn’t sound like you are at that point. Therapy and medication can be a huge help. At least in the US doctors cannot disclose information related to your care unless you give signed consent. Might want to check UK laws on that. But being totally honest with a therapist and a medication prescriber can change your life.

FYI My experience comes from being put in a psych ward myself for suicidal thoughts/plans, and from being very close to someone who used to cut and have suicidal thoughts, and medication and therapy helped that person a ton (and they were not put in a psych ward).

I live in the US and have a psychiatrist who I see about my depression and anxiety. I started seeing her because my suicidal thoughts were getting bad. When I talk to her about it, she usually asks if I have any sort of plan to carry it out and whether or not I have a gun at home. I think if I had a fully thought out plan that I was going to enact, she would have me be inpatient at the local hospital that specializes in mental health issues.

I don’t think bringing up self harm or suicidal thoughts would be enough to put you in a psych ward. I also think it’s important to be honest with your therapist so that they can properly help you.

I really hope you get the help you need. I know personally how hard it is to slog through life with depression weighing you down, and I hope that you’ll get some of that weight lifted. <3

I’m not sure how it is in the UK/Ireland (I live in Switzerland), and I haven’t gone the bodily self-harm way, but back when I had suicidal ideation for the second time it scared me enough to immediately go to a crisis centre, where I was diagnosed with depression. The people there helped me find a therapist. Though they told me that I could switch therapists if it didn’t click, without needing to give any reasoning, and that it might take up to ten tries to find a therapist that clicks, I was lucky and clicked with the first one. But putting me in a psyche ward wasn’t even mentioned (though I spent three days and two nights at the crisis centre), possibly because I never took steps to realize those suicidal thoughts.