Hi all!
Unfortunately when I was younger in the United Kingdom I was raped and abused.

I struggle with depression and voices in my head and various illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia.
I don’t financially have loads of money but I have gotten to a stage in my life where I need help otherwise I’m probably gonna go crazy before the end of 2021 Covid and the stress it causes doesn’t help either.

How can I get help in CH?

Thank you! Stay safe xxx

Talk to your GP for a start; they should be able to either refer you to specialists or support groups to help you.

Is it really urgent or are you looking for a long-term plan but can wait for a few weeks to get things organised ?



For urgent, there is a walk-in psych clinic at the Psychiatric Hospital in Kilchberg and another one right in the centre of Zurich near the main station.



https://www.sanatorium-kilchberg.ch
"Notfall" means Emergency:
Notfallnummer Sanatorium Kilchberg: 044 716 42 75

Or you can call the Crisis intervention team in Zurich:

Kriseninterventionszentrum Zürich: 044 296 73 10



If you dont' speak German well then it can be quite overwhelming, but they can allocate staff (Doctors, nurses) who can talk to you in English...


If is not an emergency, then you can either call the Sanitorium during normal hours - talk to the 'Ambulatory' team- they also have an individual and group therapy service in English - https://www.sanatorium-kilchberg.ch/...-psychosomatik

There is a link on that page if you click it you can download the brochure on therapy in English.


Generally you're advised to talk first to your 'hausartzt' if you have one (General Practitioner) as they will do a needs assessment then refer... and can also explain how it works with your health insurance.


If you don't have a general doctor already, or don't feel comfortable with them, then you try calling the Sanitorium Kilchberg or also the PUK (Psychiatric hospital of the Zurich university) - it seems that they have clinics based on your location within zurich - you need to check this page then click on the link in the text that says 'Stelle' and then you can check your postcode and find the number and address of the clinic nearest to you.

https://www.pukzh.ch/patienten-angeh...n-fuer-eltern/


Don't be afraid that they may not speak English (I'm assuming you don't speak German well) - there are plenty of doctors and nurses that do... and they can always use a translator in an emergency (computer, mobile phone or a helpline).

Yes, this. Thank you. It may be that, when one first mails or calls, they don't have someone there, right away, who can speak English. However, they are very likely to find someone, and to tell you when you can call again, when that English-speaker is available. This goes for just about any centre you may contact.

Also, even when language is not an issue at all, if the first call doesn't seem to help, it can be work trying again after a day or two. This is because help-centres are usually staffed by whole teams and so it could be that in a second call, one gets connected to a different person, with whom a better rapport becomes possible.

Castagna is a centre offering just such help:

Wir beraten Jugendliche, in der Kindheit sexuell ausgebeutete Frauen und Männer, nicht ausbeutende Eltern, Bezugspersonen von Betroffenen, Fachpersonen und Institutionen.

We advise young people, women and men who were sexually exploited in their childhoods, parents who do not abuse their children... and others...

https://www.castagna-zh.ch/

In addition to phonecalls and face-to-face appointments, they also offer online help, in collaboration with the Victims' Support.
https://www.castagna-zh.ch/Beratung/...rberatung.aspx

There, too, it may take a little while till they get an English-speaker to reply, but it is very likely that they will find someone who will respond to you.

All of these services are free of charge.

In Switzerland, as long as you are registered here, you must buy the compulsory medical insurance (Krankenkasse, Grundversicherung).

The costs of seeing a GP/family doctor, a psychiatrist, a psychologist (delegated by the psychiatrist, for psychotherapy) are covered by the basic Swiss medical insurance.

You will, however, have to pay the first slice. It is called the "Franchise". Each year this re-starts on 1st January. You can adjust your medical insurance premiums to have the lowest franchise, which is Fr. 300. Then, you will have to pay the first Fr. 300 of any medical bills you incur, starting 1st January. Thereafter, the medical insurance covers 90% of the costs, which is a huge relief.

Hi Doro,
Thanks for your note sorry it’s took me so long to to write back.
I was beat as a child so mentally I will always struggle I feel with the pandemic it’s drove me to breaking point.

You are not at all alone in your UK history, or similar. But in order to be able to give the advice you seek, we need to know whether you are resident in Switzerland - it impacts the options available to you here. Let us know, and you’ll get the right advice from people that have experienced similar within their family or themselves, I’m sure

Difficult to say.

From her other thread (https://www.englishforum.ch/permits-...itzerland.html), I have the impression that she just moved to Switzerland and then she immediately went back to the UK (she mentioned she never lived in her CH apartment).

If that is the case, between the stress of moving and starting out in another country, having to learn another language, the difficult situation back home, and the health issues, I wonder if settling in Switzerland is the best option right now.

But maybe she's been here longer, she mentioned a very good friend who's living in her apartment, so hopefully she has been here long enough to have friends, steady job and a good support system.

Honestly, the OP's story, from the way it is written, smells like trollish and nonsensical BS. Seems like they just put a tiny little bit more effort into the troll attempt for a little bit longer than most trolls.

At this point, I really hope the whole story is a fake ...

My troll-senses are tingling very strongly. OP's posts are written in a childish manner, throwing all sorts of shocking adjectives around in short sentences that don't seem to tie together so coherently. I have seen so many troll posts written in a similar way where they are trying so hard to get a response that what they write does not sound natural or feasible and instead just sounds artificial and exaggerated.

As would person with serious trauma and psychological issues revert to trying to express herself without being really census how it comes over - that's why psychiatrist may be one to understand state of mind based on messages as above.

Emphaty is what would be my first response and I can see good example of it from some on this forum

I didn’t want to say as I couldn’t be sure, but the OP’s posts very much remind me of a previous troll poster, who had a couple of different identities on here recently.

Says the king of Trolls!

Alas, I must unfortunately agree with you.

Tom

I hope the OP is a troll and all of this is just someone looking for attention. However, I lost a friend to suicide at the beginning of the COVID lockdown. It will be a year ago next month.

That's why I ask to tread carefully on this one.

I always like to give posters the benefit of the doubt even if I think they are trolling until I am 100% sure this is the case.
Even if only one poster out of hundreds of trolls is genuine then putting up with the trolls is worth it in my opinion.