When you’re struggling with mental health issues
Everybody struggles with feelings of stress, sadness, worry, anxiety or low mood sometimes. This is a natural part of life. These feelings usually pass, but sometimes you might need some support to feel better. Here are some tips on what to do if you are struggling, when to seek professional help, including contact information to a helpline and health care.
If you need urgent help
Are you feeling extremely low or think that life is not worth living? Are you thinking about taking your own life, or have you made plans to do so? You shouldn’t keep these feelings to yourself. Talk to someone you trust, seek help from a professional, or contact the suicide prevention helpline phone number 90101. Suicidal thoughts are relatively common and good help is available.
Call 112, or contact a psychiatric emergency department (In Swedish: psykiatrisk akutmottagning) immediately by calling 1177 if you are feeling extremely low or are having suicidal thoughts.
It’s ok to feel low sometimes
Everybody has bad days – sometimes life just gets to be a bit too tough. When this is the case, talking to family and friends about how you are feeling can be a great help. It’s also important to get plenty of sleep, eat regularly and healthily, and try to be physically active throughout the day.
If the number of bad days start to outweigh the good, however, or you stop feeling like yourself, or can’t cope with work, school, or meeting friends, then it is important that you talk to somebody or seek help. You could start by talking to someone in your family, a friend or someone you trust. If you need more support than your family and friends can offer, contact your local healthcare centre (In Swedish: vårdcentral).
If you’re really struggling
It is essential that you contact your healthcare centre or a psychiatric emergency clinic if you’re really struggling, feeling very low consistently for weeks or you have thoughts of harming yourself in any way.
- If you are under 25, you can also contact a youth guidance centre (In Swedish: Ungdomsmottagning).
- If you are at school, you can get help from your school nurse or counsellor.
- If you are a university student, you can contact the student health services, through studenthalsa.se.
- If you are unsure of where to turn, call 1177 – Sweden’s free healthcare advice hotline, and they will help you find the right support or care. You can speak to someone in English or Swedish, and some regions offer advice over the phone in other languages as well.
You may be entitled to an interpreter during your healthcare appointments. If contacting healthcare services feels difficult, ask someone you trust to help you find the right resources or phone numbers.
More information
- 1177 (1177.se)
- Find health care in Sweden (1177.se)
- Suicide prevention hotline phone number: 90101
- Suicide prevention hotline chat (chat.mind.se) (in Swedish)
- For youth and young adults: When you don’t feel well (youmo.se)
Studenthälsan supports the students
When we’re stressed in everyday life, it’s easy to forget what we need to make us feel good. At studenthälsa.se you can find tips, facts and exercises that might help you find a more balanced student life.
Uppdaterat: 2024-09-19
