Getting through the next ten minutes
These are holding tools, not treatment. They are for riding out a wave — panic, an urge to use, an urge to hurt yourself — until it passes, which it will. Use them while you are waiting for someone to pick up the phone.
If you are not safe, do this first: call 000, or Lifeline on 13 11 14, or text 0477 13 11 14. You can keep this page open while you talk.
Paced breathing
Breathing out for longer than you breathe in is the fastest way to take your foot off the panic pedal. Follow the circle. Four seconds in, hold for four, out for six.
Ten rounds, about two and a half minutes
If it makes you dizzy, stop and breathe normally. Dizziness is uncomfortable but not dangerous.
Grounding — 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
This pulls your attention out of your head and into the room. Say the answers out loud if you can. Typing them here is fine too — nothing you type is saved or sent.
Wait it out
Urges peak and fall, usually inside twenty minutes. You do not have to make them go away — you only have to outlast them. Set a timer and do not decide anything until it finishes.
While you wait
- Change your temperature — cold water on your face or wrists, or a cold shower.
- Move hard for sixty seconds — stairs, push-ups, walking fast.
- Ring someone. Anyone. A helpline counts, and they are awake right now.
- Eat something and drink water. Hunger and dehydration make everything feel final.
- Get out of the room you are in and go where there are other people.
When the wave has passed
The point of getting through it is to get to the part where things actually change. Two things worth doing while you are calm: