Mental Health Support for Veterans

Each part of the UK has its own route to mental health help for veterans. The services are free, and most let you get in touch yourself.

Find your route by nation

England. Op COURAGE is the NHS mental health service for veterans, reservists and people leaving the forces. Families can use it too. You can contact it yourself, or a family member or friend can do it for you.

Op COURAGE

Veterans, reservists, service leavers and families England

The NHS veterans mental health and wellbeing service, with a team for each region of England.

• England, North of England 0300 373 3332 Daily 8am to 8pm
• England, The Midlands 0300 323 0137
• England, East of England 0300 034 9991 Daily 8am to 8pm
• England, London 020 3317 6818 Weekdays 9am to 5pm
• England, South East England 0300 365 2000 (option 4) Weekdays 9am to 5pm; closed on bank holidays
• England, South West England 0300 034 9986 Weekdays 9am to 5pm

Email and contacts by region

To use it, you need to live in England and be registered with a GP, or be willing to register. Have your service number ready when you get in touch.

Scotland. Veterans First Point offers NHS support to veterans and their families in some areas. NHS inform lists drop-in teams in Ayrshire and Arran, Borders, Fife, Lanarkshire and Tayside. The NHS inform page covers all of Scotland.

Wales. Veterans' NHS Wales is a priority service for mental health difficulties linked to time in the forces. You can refer yourself, or a GP or veterans' charity can refer you.

Veterans' NHS Wales

Veterans Wales

The NHS veterans mental health service for Wales. Each health board has its own team, with its own number on the service's contact page.

Find your local team

Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner's Office keeps a list of organisations that support veterans. For mental health, it points to Combat Stress, which has a Belfast office, among others.

Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner's Office

Veterans and their families Northern Ireland

The office that speaks up for veterans in Northern Ireland and points them towards the right support.

An office, not a helpline.

9am to 5pm

Call Where to get help

Sources: NHS: veterans mental health, NHS inform: veterans, Veterans' NHS Wales: overview, NIVCO: where to get help

Help across the UK

Combat Stress runs a free helpline for veterans and their families. It is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

For war pensions, compensation or welfare, Veterans Services is the Ministry of Defence line.

Sources: Combat Stress: get help, MOD: veterans services

Who counts as a veteran

You may wonder whether these services are meant for you. For Op COURAGE, how long ago you left does not matter, and nor does how long you served. One full day in the UK armed forces is enough.

In 2021, almost 1.9m people in England and Wales said they had served in the UK armed forces. The NHS veterans service in England had taken more than 30k referrals by early 2024.

If someone close to you served, Op COURAGE and Combat Stress both support families as well.

Sources: NHS: veterans mental health, ONS: veterans census 2021, NHS England: veterans support, Combat Stress: get help

What we are and what we are not

We do not yet list a professional with specialist training in military life. The services above do that work, and they are free.

A professional found here can help with the rest. That might be low mood, grief or a relationship under strain.

If something from your service keeps coming back, read our trauma and PTSD page. If drinking has become the way you cope, the alcohol and drugs page lists free services.

Our pages for men are for the man who keeps putting help off.

You might find talking support useful when:

• You are waiting for a specialist appointment and want support in the meantime
• Life outside the forces still feels unfamiliar, years after you left
• Your partner or family is carrying some of the strain
• You are grieving someone you served with
• Low mood or poor sleep has settled in and stayed

You might find it helps to mention any specialist support you already have. A good professional will work alongside it.

If things feel urgent

The Combat Stress helpline answers day and night. If you are thinking of ending your life, our UK crisis page lists who to call.