Mental health

What is mental health?

Mental health is our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing how we think, feel, and handle life’s challenges. It is estimated that one in four adults (and one in ten children) will experience mental health issues every year. Nobody has to face mental health challenges alone and there are a wide range of support options available.

Urgent support

If your mental or emotional state quickly gets worse or deteriorates, this can be called a ‘mental health crisis’. In this situation, it is important to get help quickly.

If you need help, please call 0800 145 6485 (open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) and our local support team will help you.

If you have an immediate, life-threatening emergency requiring mental or physical health assistance, always dial 999 or visit Arrowe Park Hospital’s A&E department.

Local support

  • NHS Wirral Talking Therapies is a free and confidential service, available to anyone who is aged 16+ and registered with a GP in the Wirral.
  • Compañeros is a safe space in the heart of Birkenhead for people who are struggling with emotional and psychological distress, and who consider themselves to be in a self-defined crisis. The facility is hosted by professionals, volunteers, peers, and includes people with lived experience.
  • The Martin Gallier Project is a pioneering, first-of-its-kind suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention charity in the North West of England. They are fiercely dedicated to preventing suicide, breaking down stigma, and supporting families.
  • There’s a Wirral Community Adult Mental Health WhatsApp group that patients can join and hear about things like adult mental health events, services, and support groups. This page is located in the ’Updates’ tab at the bottom of the WhatsApp screen.

National support

  • Samaritans are a national charity that aim to support you, no matter what you’re going through. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Call 116 123 for free.
  • CALM is a charity that exists to raise awareness of the issues around suicide and to reduce suicide in the UK. Their helpline is open from 5pm until midnight every day and you can call it by dialling 0800 585 858.
  • National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK offers supportive listening and information to anyone having thoughts of suicide, including family, friends and carers of those having thoughts. Call 0800 689 5652 to access the helpline.
  • Hub of Hope is the UK’s largest and most comprehensive directory of community mental health services so you can find help when you need it, wherever you are.

Well-being booklet

The NHS Cheshire and Wirral Partnership have created a PDF booklet for well-being which contains local and national organisations and apps to help people find support for their well-being.

The well-being PDF booklet is also available in Arabic, Farsi, Pashtu, Polish, Romanian, and Tamil.

Page last reviewed: 4 February 2026