The Towers Hamlets Early Detection Service (THEDS) is an NHS preventative mental health team. We work with young people living in Tower hamlets who are aged 17-30. We hope to help you to get things back on track and move forwards in a way that is meaningful and important to you. THEDS provides support for up to 2 years with experiences you find confusing or distressing. These experiences may be interfering with your life. These may include muddled thinking, feeling strange/paranoid or possibly hearing voices.  

You may worry that these experiences will mean you have to go into hospital or will develop a serious mental health condition. We want to assure you that these experiences are more common than you think, can be helped and treated. Treatment and support does not often involve going anywhere near a hospital or taking medication. We know that by reaching out for support, we can help. We hope to provide advice, support and information on what might be the cause of, or contributing to these experiences.

Some of the experiences you may be experiencing are listed below.  

• Being preoccupied with particular ideas or thoughts.
• Hearing or seeing things that others to do not.
• Preferring to spend time alone, away from family and friends.  
• Struggling to cope at college or work.
• Muddled thinking, noticing that things and people seem strange and unreal.  
• A family history of psychosis.
• Feeling scared or unsafe.  
• Feeling that people are talking about you, laughing at you or saying negative things about you.  
• Derealisation, feeling the world isn’t real or has changed in some way.  

You can call our team.