Support Map

A support map is a simple way of organising the people, services, places, and tools that can help you stay safe and supported.

It might include:

• professional support

• crisis support

• friends and family

• peer support

• practical support

• work, study, or benefits support

• creative, spiritual, or community support

• things that help you feel grounded

• things that make recovery harder

Your support map is personal to you.

Some people will have a care team, a therapist, family nearby, close friends, and a workplace that understands.

Some people will have very little formal support.

Some people will have complicated relationships with family.

Some people will have people around them, but still feel lonely.

Some people will have been hurt, misunderstood, dismissed, or judged by the very people who were supposed to help.

So this is not about pretending everyone has a perfect support system.

It is about starting from where you are and building from there.

When you have been through a mental health crisis, support can make a huge difference.

Not because other people can fix everything.

They cannot.

But because recovery often needs more than willpower.

You might need someone to remind you about an appointment.
Someone to sit with you when you feel scared.
Someone to help you make sense of paperwork.
Someone to notice if you stop sleeping.
Someone to go for a short walk with you.
Someone to help you challenge shame.
Someone to help you contact services before things become urgent.
Someone who can just be normal with you.

Support does not always look dramatic.

Sometimes it looks like a cup of tea.
A lift to an appointment.
A text that says, “No need to reply, just thinking of you.”
Someone helping you open the post.
Someone sitting nearby while you make a phone call.
Someone saying, “I’m not scared of you. I’m here.”

Small support counts.

One person does not have to be everything.

In fact, it is often safer and more realistic if they are not.

You may have:

• one person who is good in a practical crisis

• one person who makes you laugh

• one person who understands mental health

• one person who can help with admin

• one person who is calm and grounding

• one person who can talk to professionals with you

• one person who is good for ordinary life but not deep conversations

• one professional who helps with medication

• one group where you feel less alone

This matters because sometimes we expect one friend, partner, sibling, parent, or professional to meet every need.

And then we feel devastated when they cannot.

A support map helps you spread the weight.

It lets you ask:

Who can help with this specific thing?

rather than:

Why can’t this one person understand everything?

Professional support may include people like:

• psychiatrist

• GP

• care coordinator

• community psychiatric nurse

• social worker

• therapist

• psychologist

• occupational therapist

• crisis team

• early intervention team

• community mental health team

• support worker

• pharmacist

• peer support worker

• advocate

You may not have all of these people.

You may only have one or two.

You may not be sure who is responsible for your care now.

That is very common, especially after discharge.

A useful first step is to write down:

• who is involved in your care

• what their role is

• how to contact them

• when you are next seeing them

• what they can and cannot help with

You are allowed to ask:

“Who is my main point of contact?”
“Who do I call if I start to feel unwell again?”
“What support am I entitled to?”
“Can I have this written down?”

You do not have to hold all of this information in your head.

This part of your support map is about what to do if things become urgent.

It may include:

• your local crisis team

• NHS 111 mental health option

• 999 in an emergency

• A&E

• Samaritans

• Shout text service

• a trusted person who can stay with you

• a safe place you can go

• your crisis plan, if you have one

It can feel frightening to write this down.

You might think:

I don’t want to imagine things getting bad again.

That is understandable.

But having crisis information written down does not mean you are expecting the worst.

It means you are making things easier for your future self.

When you are distressed, it can be hard to search for numbers, explain yourself, or decide what to do.

A crisis section in your support map can help you act sooner, before things become unbearable.

You deserve support before you reach breaking point.

The people closest to you can be a huge part of recovery.

But relationships after crisis can also be complicated.

Some people may have been amazing.

Some may have panicked.

Some may have disappeared.

Some may want to help but not know how.

Some may love you deeply and still say the wrong thing.

Some may need boundaries.

Some may not be safe people for this part of your life.

Your support map does not need to include everyone who cares about you.

It should include the people who are actually helpful.

That might mean asking:

• Who makes me feel calmer?

• Who respects my boundaries?

• Who believes me?

• Who does not shame me?

• Who can handle difficult conversations?

• Who is good in a practical situation?

• Who do I feel worse after speaking to?

• Who do I love, but need distance from while I recover?

It is okay if some people belong in your life but not in your recovery plan.

That distinction can be important.

Sometimes people say, “Let me know if you need anything.”

And you have no idea what to say.

A support map can help you turn vague offers into specific requests.

You might need help with:

• getting to appointments

• remembering medication

• collecting prescriptions

• food shopping

• cooking

• cleaning

• opening post

• managing bills

• talking to work

• replying to messages

• going outside

• sitting quietly together

• reducing loneliness

• making a plan for the week

• spotting early warning signs

• getting urgent help if needed

It may feel uncomfortable to ask.

But people who care about you often want to help. They may just need to know what help actually looks like.

You can start small.

“Could you check in with me tomorrow?”
“Could you sit with me while I call the GP?”
“Could you help me write down my appointments?”
“Could you bring over something easy to eat?”
“Could we go for a short walk and not talk about hospital?”

Specific support is easier to give and easier to receive.

There is a particular kind of relief that can come from speaking to someone who has been through something similar.

Not because their experience is exactly the same.

But because you may not have to explain quite so much.

Peer support might come from:

• support groups

• mental health charities

• lived-experience communities

• online forums

• recovery colleges

• group therapy

• friends with similar experiences

• creative or writing groups

• diagnosis-specific groups, if that feels helpful

Peer support can help with the feeling of:

“Is it just me?”

Often, it is not just you.

Other people have been sectioned.
Other people have experienced psychosis.
Other people have had frightening thoughts, unusual beliefs, mania, depression, hospitalisation, medication changes, shame, relapse fears, and complicated recoveries.

You are not alone in this.

A gentle note: online spaces can be helpful, but they can also be overwhelming or triggering. It is okay to step back from any group, forum, or account that makes you feel worse.

Support should support you.

Recovery is emotional, but it is also practical.

Sometimes the thing making everything worse is not one big existential question.

It is rent.
Laundry.
A benefits form.
An unread email.
A messy room.
A prescription.
A sick note.
A missed bill.
A fridge with no food in it.

Practical stress can make mental health recovery much harder.

Your support map might include people or services who can help with:

• housing

• money

• benefits

• debt

• employment

• sick pay

• fit notes

• food

• transport

• childcare

• caring responsibilities

• legal rights

• advocacy

• disability support

• reasonable adjustments

You do not have to solve all practical problems alone.

If you are overwhelmed, start with the most urgent thing.

Ask:

What needs attention first because it affects my safety, housing, money, health, or care?

Everything else can be prioritised from there.

If you are working, studying, volunteering, or hoping to return to any of these, support might also include:

• manager

• HR

• occupational health

• union representative

• tutor

• disability support team

• student wellbeing team

• mentor

• trusted colleague

• Access to Work

• fit note from your GP

• reasonable adjustments

You do not necessarily have to tell everyone everything.

You can choose what to share and with whom.

A support map can help you think about:

• who needs to know something

• who does not need to know

• what adjustments might help

• what pace of return feels realistic

• what warning signs work or study should be aware of, if any

• what boundaries you need to protect your recovery

Returning to work or study is not just about capability.

It is also about sustainability.

This is just as important.

Not all support is supportive.

Some things might make you feel worse, even if they are well-intended.

For example:

• being told to “just stay positive”

• people questioning your diagnosis aggressively

• people treating you like you are fragile forever

• people ignoring what happened completely

• being pushed to talk before you are ready

• being watched too closely

• being left completely alone

• being given too much advice

• being spoken about instead of spoken to

• people making your crisis about them

• pressure to recover quickly

• pressure to go back to work before you are ready

You are allowed to know what does not help.

You are allowed to say:

“I know you mean well, but that doesn’t help me.”
“I need practical support rather than advice right now.”
“Please don’t ask for all the details.”
“It helps when you check in, but not when you panic.”
“I need you to speak to me normally.”

Boundaries are part of recovery.

You might want to create your support map in a notebook, on your phone, as a printable worksheet, or on a piece of paper stuck somewhere easy to find.

You could divide it into sections like this:

Professional support

Who is involved in my care?

Names, roles, phone numbers, emails, appointments.

Crisis support

Who do I contact if I feel unsafe or very unwell?

Crisis team, NHS 111, emergency services, trusted people, safe places.

Personal support

Who can I talk to?

Friends, family, chosen family, partner, neighbours, community.

Practical support

Who can help me with life admin?

Money, housing, work, appointments, food, forms, transport.

Peer support

Where can I feel less alone?

Groups, charities, online communities, recovery spaces.

Everyday support

What helps me stay grounded?

Walks, music, creativity, pets, routine, rest, food, prayer, meditation, humour, nature, exercise, quiet.

Not helpful

What makes things worse?

People, places, conversations, pressures, habits, environments, or expectations that make recovery harder.