Can you call emergency for mental health reasons?

[Ditapage]

I handle my anxiety as much as I can, as I know we all do, but when I am left alone in the house at night I have a harder time calming down. I wake up two hours after I fall asleep every night without fail, with some sensation/symptom that makes me panic. But if I had to call the ambulance I wouldn't know how to describe the feelings. I just feel like I will pass out any second and I am terrified. It's mostly my thoughts running wild but then I become super aware of anything g in my body like a tight spot on my scalp, face tingling, numbness behind the ear, pain in one temple, and I feel like I need help. Ambulances deal with real emergencies so I don't want to waste their time but what happens if I am really freaking out? I don't know if it's ok to call the hospital and say "I feel like something bad is about to happen!" I just get this thought in my head that I will black out and it's so subtle as I don't feel dizzy or particularly sick. I just feel like it will come upon me and my thoughts start racing and I picture the ambulance coming and them not being able to calm me down. This is all anxiety, right? And surely it's not the best thing to call the ambulance?

[23tana]

Try calling the Samaritans. They will talk to you until you calm down.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I would go with 23tana's advice. You can call 999 but they will likely send the paramedics out and its not going to help you other than at that time. You can also call 111 but the result may be the same.

The Samaritans are more experienced (and likely better trained) at dealing with people in all sorts of distress. They will be able to dedicate a lot more time to talking to you which will likely help you much more than a trip to the hospital to be sent home not long after with probably nothing anyway.

There are also emergency lines or crisis lines around the country and you can talk to these. Some are within restricted hours and some are 24 hour.

[Ditapage]

Thanks for the replies, I hadn't thought of the Samaritans but that's wonderful to know. it's funny when I am not feeling anxious the thought of calling the paramedics for symptoms I have had a thousand times before is ludicrous. Just goes to show how the anxious mind differs to the calm, rational one.