iCare Now

If you need help right now

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call your local emergency number. iCare Now is not an emergency service and nobody here is monitoring your account in real time.

Somewhere else? Find a HelplineVerified crisis lines in over 130 countries, searchable by region and topic.

If it is hard, but not an emergency

These are not a substitute for talking to someone. They are for the twenty minutes before you do.

  • Slow your breathing

    Four counts in, seven hold, eight out. Three rounds is usually enough to take the edge off.

    Open it

  • Come back to the room

    Five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, one you can taste.

  • Tell one person

    It does not have to be the right person or the right words. "I'm not doing well tonight" is a complete sentence.

Worried about someone else?

Ask directly.Asking someone whether they are thinking about suicide does not plant the idea. It is one of the few things that reliably helps.

Stay with it.You do not have to fix anything or say the right thing. Not leaving is most of the job.

Get a professional in.Use a line above together, or call your local emergency number if there is immediate danger.

The worried about my child situation covers the non-urgent version of this in more detail, and what to say when they mention self-harm covers the conversation itself.

We would like to use Google Analytics to see which topics people actually reach. It sets cookies, so we are asking first. The library, the podcast and the crisis lines all work either way. Privacy policy