Crisis Support

You're experiencing something that many people go through, and professional help is available. Suicidal thoughts don't mean you're weak or broken - they often indicate that emotional pain has become overwhelming.

Immediate steps:

• Contact a crisis helpline or emergency services immediately
• Stay with someone you trust or ask someone to stay with you
• Remove any means of self-harm from your immediate environment
• Remember that these feelings can change with proper support

Immediate grounding technique: Focus on five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.² This technique activates your parasympathetic nervous system and reduces acute anxiety symptoms.

Professional support available: Crisis teams can support you if you have a mental health crisis outside hospital.¹ These teams provide rapid, on-site interventions to de-escalate crises and connect individuals to care.²

This is a normal crisis response: Crisis situations frequently involve adversity, defined by a very distressing state of uncertainty, perceived threat to core beliefs, and disruptions to daily routines.³ Your emotional response indicates your system is processing significant stress.

Immediate support: Contact your local crisis helpline for emotional and practical support.⁴ Crisis intervention workers are trained in active listening and providing immediate stabilisation.³

Start with crisis helplines: Services like behavioural health hotlines provide immediate, accessible support as part of comprehensive crisis care systems.² These services are designed to ensure that individuals in crisis receive timely and effective support.²

Professional guidance available: Crisis intervention workers can help you identify appropriate next steps and connect you to ongoing mental health services.³

Visit these pages to browse your local therapists starting with the ones nearest to anxiety therapists, depression therapists, teen therapists, child therapists, marriage therapists and counselors, couples therapists, affordable therapists, family therapists, psychologists, trauma therapists, and the counselors.

24/7 support available: Crisis support systems are designed to ensure that individuals in crisis receive timely and effective support.² Professional crisis workers use active listening, appropriate questioning techniques, and evidence-based stabilisation methods.³

Stay calm and present: Your calm presence can help stabilise someone in crisis.⁴ Crises require supportive, non-judgmental responses that prioritise safety and connection to professional help.

Listen without judgment: Use active listening techniques - pay attention to verbal and non-verbal communication, avoid confrontation, debates, or arguments.³ Accept the person as the expert in their situation while guiding them toward professional support.

Assess immediate safety: If the person expresses suicidal or homicidal thoughts, or shows severe disorientation or inability to care for themselves, seek immediate professional help.³ Call emergency services if there is immediate danger.

Encourage professional contact: Help them access crisis helplines or emergency services.⁴ You can offer to stay with them while they make the call or help them find local resources.

Know your limits: While your support is valuable, professional crisis intervention workers have specialised training in crisis management and can provide resources you cannot.³

Alternative communication methods: Many crisis services now offer text and online chat options for those who prefer written communication over phone calls.² Digital crisis intervention platforms ensure accessibility across different communication preferences and technological capabilities.

Digital crisis intervention: Modern crisis care systems include digital platforms as part of comprehensive "Someone to Contact" services.² These services provide immediate crisis intervention and support access through multiple communication channels.

Immediate medical attention: If you're in immediate physical danger or having severe psychiatric symptoms, emergency rooms provide immediate assessment and stabilisation.⁴ Emergency departments are equipped to handle mental health crises and can connect you to ongoing care.

On-site intervention: Mobile Crisis Teams deliver rapid, on-site interventions to de-escalate crises and connect individuals to care as part of the "Someone to Respond" element of comprehensive crisis care systems.² These teams provide professional crisis response in community settings.

Crisis outreach services: Crisis Outreach Teams provide complementary crisis prevention and postvention services as part of integrated crisis care systems.² These services extend beyond immediate crisis response to include ongoing support and prevention.

Evidence-based technique: Controlled breathing helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing acute anxiety symptoms.⁴ This physiological response can help stabilise your emotional state during crisis moments.

Simple method: Breathe in for four counts, hold for four counts, breathe out for six counts.² Repeat until you feel more stable. Focus on making your exhale longer than your inhale to maximise calming effects.

5-4-3-2-1 technique: Identify five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.² This technique redirects your attention from internal distress to external, concrete sensory experiences.

Physical grounding: Feel your feet on the ground, hold a cold object, or splash cold water on your face.⁴ Physical sensations can help anchor you in the present moment during overwhelming emotional states.

Sensory comfort: Use comforting scents, soft textures, calming music, or warm beverages to help regulate your emotional state.² These techniques engage your senses to promote emotional regulation and stability.

Safe space creation: Move to a quiet, comfortable location where you feel secure and can focus on stabilising techniques.³ Environmental factors significantly impact your ability to implement coping strategies effectively.

Cognitive redirection: Engage in activities that require mental focus, such as counting backwards from 100 by 7s, naming animals alphabetically, or describing objects in detail.² These techniques interrupt overwhelming thought patterns and provide cognitive relief.

Physical activity: Light movement, stretching, or walking can help process stress hormones and provide emotional regulation.⁴ Physical activity supports both immediate crisis management and longer-term emotional stability.

Crisis planning: Develop a written plan that includes warning signs, coping strategies, people to contact, and professional resources.³ Safety planning is a collaborative process between you and mental health professionals that reduces crisis risk.

Environmental safety: Remove or secure items that could be used for self-harm during crisis periods.⁴ Environmental modifications are a practical component of comprehensive crisis prevention strategies.

Personalised crisis care: Independent therapists can provide individualised crisis intervention approaches without institutional constraints that may limit treatment flexibility.² This autonomy allows for more responsive, client-centred crisis care planning.

Direct professional accountability: Independent practitioners answer directly to you and their profession, ensuring crisis care decisions prioritise your specific needs and safety.³ This direct accountability relationship supports more personalised and responsive crisis intervention.

Specialised crisis expertise: Many independent therapists develop specialised training in crisis intervention and trauma-informed care, allowing for more targeted and effective follow-up treatment.⁴ Specialised expertise ensures you receive evidence-based crisis intervention approaches.

Continuity of care: Independent therapists can provide consistent, long-term support following crisis intervention, without being limited by institutional policies or resource allocation constraints.² This continuity supports sustained recovery and crisis prevention.

Clinical definition: A crisis involves a significant impact on a person's health, functioning, and general well-being, with typical outcomes including stress, worry, uncertainty, physical discomfort, and trauma-related mental health issues.³ Crises represent periods of psychological disequilibrium that exceed available coping resources.

Crisis types: Mental health professionals distinguish between Type 1 crisis (one-time, acute single event) and Type 2 crisis (more chronic state of crisis, also called complex trauma).³ Understanding crisis types helps determine appropriate intervention approaches and expected recovery timeframes.

Immediate intervention needed: If you're experiencing suicidal or homicidal thoughts, severe disorientation, or inability to care for yourself, seek immediate professional help.⁴ These symptoms indicate crisis severity that requires professional assessment and intervention.

Crisis intervention timeframe: Professional crisis intervention is most effective when accessed within 4 to 6 weeks of exposure to a stressor or crisis.³ Early intervention significantly improves outcomes and reduces the risk of developing chronic mental health conditions.

Professional approach: Crisis intervention workers use active listening, appropriate questioning techniques, and evidence-based stabilisation methods to help you through the immediate crisis.³ Professional crisis workers are trained to provide emotional and practical support while connecting you to ongoing care.

Confidentiality: Information is shared with others only if there is a serious concern related to the safety and security of you or relevant others.³ Crisis workers maintain professional confidentiality while prioritising safety when imminent risk is present.