Mental Health Support for Teenagers in Cyprus: A Guide for Parents

If your teenager is in immediate danger, call 112 or go to the emergency department of the nearest public hospital. If they need someone to talk to now, they can call 116 111, a free and anonymous helpline for children and adolescents.

Teenage years are hard anywhere, and moving countries can add a new school, a new language and missing old friends. Most worries pass with time and support at home, but it helps to know who to call when they don't. This guide sets out the helplines, the support available through schools and the public services for young people in Cyprus, so you know where to turn.

Who can a teenager call?

All of these numbers are listed on the 2026–27 helplines poster published by the Ministry of Education's Pedagogical Institute for schools.

116 111

The European helpline for children and adolescents is run in Cyprus by Hope For Children CRC Policy Center. The Ministry of Education describes it as free and anonymous, for children and adolescents who want to talk about worries about the future, problems with parents or friends, or feeling scared. Its listed hours are Monday to Friday 12:00 to 20:00 and Saturday 09:30 to 14:00, and the line works in Greek. If your teenager prefers English, ask the counsellor at the start of the call whether they can continue in English.

1410 and online chat

The Youth Board of Cyprus runs the 1410 service for children and parents and an E-Counselling chat with a counsellor on the same principles. Conversations are confidential and open to anyone, whatever their age or background. The chat runs Monday to Friday 10:00 to 23:00 and Saturday and Sunday 15:00 to 23:00. Many teenagers find typing easier than talking, so this is a gentle first step.

What about the Samaritans?

By law, Cyprus Samaritans cannot speak with anyone who says they are under 18. They are there for you as a parent, though: call 8000 7773 every day from 16:00 to midnight, or email confidential@cyprussamaritans.org.

What help is available through school?

Educational Psychology Service

The Ministry of Education's Educational Psychology Service works with all public primary and secondary schools, including technical schools. Educational psychologists assess pupils with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties, plan support with the family and the school, and keep what they learn strictly confidential. They also respond to crises in schools, such as bereavement, bullying or a suicide attempt.

There are two ways in:

1. Apply as a parent. Ask your district office for the "Referral to the Educational Psychology Service" form and send it back.
2. Ask the school. The head teacher can refer your child, usually after the school has tried its own support plan first.

Every referral needs the parents' consent, and older children are told about the referral too.

School counsellors

Public secondary schools also have school counsellors from the Ministry's Career Counselling and Educational Services. Besides careers advice, they offer individual and group counselling to help pupils deal with personal, family and relationship issues, and they work with the head teacher and teachers on pupils' well-being. A counsellor may cover more than one school, so ask the school office how to book a meeting.

If your teenager goes to a private or international school, ask the school about its own counsellor or psychologist and how it works with outside services.

How do you get public mental health care for a teenager?

The State Health Services Organisation (SHSO, also known as OKYpY), which runs the public hospitals, has Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents. They see children and adolescents up to 17 with mild to severe psychological, psychosocial or emotional difficulties, and their families. Teams include a child psychiatrist, clinical psychologists, an occupational therapist and mental health nurses, and their work takes in the family and the school.

Step by step

1. See your teenager's GESY personal doctor. In the public system, specialist appointments normally need a referral from the personal doctor. Our GESY guide explains how to register and choose a doctor.
2. Explain what is happening. Say how long it has been going on and how it affects sleep, school, eating and friendships.
3. Ask for a referral to child and adolescent mental health services or a child psychiatrist.
4. Request an appointment by phone or with the online form on the service's page. The form asks for your teenager's details, ID number and the reason for the appointment, and the team contacts you to arrange a time.

In Nicosia the services sit under the Mental Health Directorate at Archbishop Makarios III Hospital. They include a prevention and psychosocial intervention unit, a child psychiatry liaison service (22 405053, 22 405085 or 22 405086) for children who are in hospital or seen at Makarios outpatient clinics, and the island's Adolescent Inpatient Care Department, an 8-bed unit for ages 12 to 17 from all over Cyprus.

What should you do in an emergency?

If your teenager has hurt themselves, talks about wanting to die, or you think they are in danger:

1. Call 112 or take them to the emergency department of the nearest public hospital.
2. Stay with them if it is safe to do so, and keep calm.
3. Tell staff about any medication, alcohol or drugs they may have taken.
4. Follow up with their personal doctor and school once the immediate crisis has passed.

Keep 112 and the numbers above in your phone, and in your teenager's. Our list of emergency numbers in Cyprus has the rest.

How can parents help day to day?

• Keep talking, and listen more than you speak. Car journeys and walks often feel easier than face-to-face conversations.
• Take changes seriously in sleep, appetite, school work or friendships that last more than a couple of weeks, and ask gently how they are.
• Talk to the school early. Teachers and counsellors often notice things at school that you do not see at home.
• Give them their own options. Let your teenager know about 116 111 and the 1410 chat, so they have someone to turn to besides you.
• Ask about language. If Greek is a barrier, ask any service at the first contact whether a session can be held in English.
• Look after yourself. Supporting a struggling teenager is tiring. The 1410 service supports parents too, and the Samaritans are there for adults every evening. Our guide from homesick to happy looks at the wider pressures of family life abroad.

Related guides

• GESY in Cyprus: a complete guide
• Emergency numbers in Cyprus
• From homesick to happy: expat life in Cyprus
• Enrolling your child in a public school in Cyprus