Find help

Information on how to find help and contact details of support organisations.

No matter what the question or the problem, there is always someone that can help. Even if it’s a problem that you are not sure about, it’s better to ask for help or advice than to struggle on alone.

Don’t be embarrassed or shy about asking for help. Everybody – yes everybody! – goes through difficult stuff in life. It’s good to ask your family and friends for support and understanding but it is important that if you need to, you seek professional advice and help.

If you need to talk to someone right now then contact one of these organisations for confidential support 24 hours a day- no matter your age or where you are.

Samaritans PHONE: 1850 609090
(Northern Ireland PHONE: 08457 909090)
Email: jo@samaritans.org
Web: www.samaritans.org
Samaritans provide confidential, non-judgemental support, 24 hours a day for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which could lead to suicide.

ChildLine FREEPHONE: 1800 66 66 66
Talk to ChildLine online.
Web: www.childline.ie 
Childline is a 24-hour a day service for young people up to 18. Childline offer support to young people through their listening service over the phone and through the website. You can call Childline for a chat or to talk about any problems you might have.

Click here for other organisations that can help.

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide or self harm, you should immediately contact your local doctor or go to the A&E department of the nearest hospital. The doctors and hospitals in your area will be listed in the Golden Pages: www.goldenpages.ie.

Who to ask for help:

• Talk to someone you trust (perhaps a family member, school counsellor or a friend) and ask them to support you in finding help.
• Talk to your doctor, a school or college counsellor or support services in the area where you live.
• Contact the emergency services by calling 999.
• Contact one of the many support organisations and helplines that will be more than willing to help. See the Need help now? factsheet for information on some of the main support organisations and services available.
• Northern Ireland: We are developing a full range of Northern Ireland support links on SpunOut.ie. In the meantime, visit the MindingYourHead website for contact details of support organisations in Northern Ireland.

When seeking help, remember:

• Be truthful about the problem and tell all the facts.
• State whether you want your problem to be kept confidential and ask whether the person can do this for you. Some organisations are obliged to report issues such as rape or abuse to the authorities.
• Often services such as counselling and helplines are overworked and may not be able to help straight away but hang in there and demand to get help.
• Don’t let the cost, location or hours of service put you off. You have a right to help and/ or treatment. Remind the doctor/ clinic of this.
• Make sure they LISTEN to you, TREAT YOU WITH RESPECT and DON’T JUDGE YOU.

Search for support on SpunOut.ie

You can find all sorts of supportive information here on SpunOut.ie. If you can’t find exactly what you are looking for then use the Search facility at the top right hand corner of every page to find supportive SpunOut.ie articles, as well as useful services and organisations nationwide.

How to use the search:

Simply enter the search term (what you are looking for) in the search box at the top right hand corner of any page.The search will give you access to relevant SpunOut.ie articles, as well as contact details for services and organisations nationwide.

Too many results?

If you search for a broad term, such as 'youth centre', you will see contact details for all related articles and organisations. So narrow the search by being more specific, for example, searching for ‘Youth centre Tralee'.

You can also directly access results on a certain topic. Just adapt the following web address to the topic that you are searching for:
www.spunout.ie/topic/yoursearchterm

For example:
www.spunout.ie/topic/drugs will provide you with all articles, organisations and services relating to drugs.

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