The GAMH Compassionate Distress Response Service for Young People is a short-term support to relieve distress and signpost to suitable services. We won’t give you advice or tell you what to do. The Compassionate Distress Response Service (CDRS) isn’t therapy or counselling. Instead, we offer a safe space to talk about how you are feeling.

Together, we may find ways to help reduce your stress. We can also assist you to find other services that offer the right support.

How to access the GAMH Compassionate Distress Response Service for Young People

Sometimes it’s hard to talk to friends or your parents. You might feel no one understands or that people will judge you. That’s why we’re here.

The GAMH team will listen empathetically without judgement and provide you with a compassionate response in your time of emotional distress. The Compassionate Distress Service for Young People will try to help you make sense of how you feel and think about what might help you feel better.

How to access the GAMH Compassionate Distress Response Service for Young People

To use the GAMH Compassionate Distress Response Service for Young People, you or your loved one must be:

• 16 to 25 years of age (up to 26 if care experienced); and
• Living in Glasgow at the time of their distress.

If you’re over 25, please visit our For Adults section.

Young people aged 14 to 15: We are extending the Young People’s pathway to include 14 and 15 year olds only, from May 2026 until March 2027.

This service is limited to the following referral sources:

• Specialist Children’s Services
• Youth Health Service
• Social Work Services
• Staff at secondary schools where an agreement is in place.

Young People will receive a response within 24 hours during normal service hours (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).

You can’t refer yourself to the GAMH Compassionate Distress Response Service for Young People, but you can ask your GP (Doctor) or Social Worker to refer you. We also accept referrals from other agencies.

Once we get a referral, we’ll try to call you within 24 hours.

If you need urgent help, please go to our Get help now section.

GPs and multi-disciplinary teams can refer people aged 16 to 25/26. Here’s how:

• By referral form or by calling GAMH
• Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

The intensity and duration of the support is dependent on the levels of distress and the issues that the Young Person is presenting.

Referrals are accepted from:

• CAMHS
• Secondary schools
• Higher and further education institutions
• Youth Health Services
• Sandyford Clinic
• Mental health assessment units
• Emergency services
• First responders
• Social work
• Third sector organisations.

Referrals outside these times will be picked up the next working day. We aim to respond within 24 hours.

Out of Hours Services can also refer people aged 16 to 25/26:

• By phone or referral form
• Every day from 5pm to 2am.

Please download the GAMH Compassionate Distress Response Service Referral Criteria and Pathways (PDF) for more details.

Please note: Members of the public can’t refer others.

The Compassionate Distress Response Service for Young people was commissioned by the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP). This built upon the work of an NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde multi agency distress collaborative in 2019.

The collaborative recommended an alternative, non-clinical response to people experiencing distress. The collaborative defined distress as “an emotional state, not an illness, which is expressed and comes to our attention when a person’s internal capacities and external supports cannot contain something.”

The GAMH Compassionate Distress Response Service opened in May 2020 before the Compassionate Distress Response Service for Young People opened. The Compassionate Distress Response Service for Young People is supported and funded via the Scottish Government Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services Fund.

Learn more about our mental health support services for Young People and our Young Adult Mental Health Group.