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  3. Depression, feeling low, or having suicidal thoughts

Depression, feeling low, or having suicidal thoughts

Medical harm can causes issues like anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts. If you are struggling, seek help as soon as possible.

What to do first

If you or someone else is at risk of death or serious injury, call the emergency services on 999 and ask for police and an ambulance.

If you are feeling suicidal or having a serious mental health crisis, call Samaritans on 116 123 for free, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

How to get support with your mental health

Avoidable medical harm can have a devastating impact on the lives of the injured person and their families. It is not unusual for people affected to feel low, depressed, and sometimes suicidal.

At Avma, we care deeply about the impact that avoidable harm in healthcare can have, and we are truly sorry if you are going through such a difficult time. And although we don’t have the specialist skills here to help people with managing the feelings associated with depression and anxiety, you are not alone — there is help available to you.

If you are feeling suicidal, please call Samaritans for free, now, on 116 123. If you are finding it difficult to manage your feelings or have concerns about your mental health and wellbeing, you can seek medical advice from your GP to help you cope with this. We have also provided some self-help guides to help you and signposts to other specialist organisations for further support, help, and people to talk to.

Guides to help you

View all

Accessible versions

Our core guides are also available in large print versions on request. If you need a guide to be read aloud to you, you can use free accessible apps for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

Need other guidance?

We’re always looking to expand our range of self-help guides. If there is advice or information you would find useful which isn’t available on our site, please let us know.

Further information you might find useful, from specialist organisations

Resources for people bereaved by suicide from Making Families Count

Making sense after a suicide: living with blame, uncertainty, and the need for answers. You are not alone.

Go to the Making Families Count website

Information and advice from the Royal College of Psychiatrists

What you can do if you are feeling overwhelmed and with no control over your life.

Go to the Royal College of Psychiatrists website

Advice from Mind, the charity for better mental health

Practical tools and ways to help yourself cope in a crisis and what you can do if you need urgent help.

Go to the MIND website

Advice on urgent support in a crisis from Rethink Mental Illness

Tools and advice to help you now.

Go to the Rethink Mental Illness website

How the Samaritans can help

Call them for free on 116 123, or visit their site for information on how they can help you if you’re not feeling okay.

Go to the Samaritans website

Guidance from the NHS

Find out where you can get urgent help for a mental health emergency.

Go to the NHS website