You can get through this moment
Whatever you’re experiencing right now — you’re not alone.
If you’re in danger of harming yourself or others
Call your local emergency services:
EU 112
UK 999
US 911
If you’re unsure of your local number, search for it online.
If you’re worried about your sexual thoughts or behaviour
Shore
Shore is a safe, anonymous space for teenagers worried about their own or others’ sexual thoughts or behaviour. Expert support to help you manage concerns and stay safe online and offline.
If you need help right now
Talk to someone
Find support in your country.
If something happened to you
If someone did something to you sexually that you did not choose or understand, find a helpline here.
If no support is available right now, try these tools
Quick tools to help you manage difficult feelings.
Quick reset
Grounding, 5 things
You do not need to think during this. Just follow one step at a time. Your body will shift.
Cold water
Go to a tap now. Run cold water over your wrists or splash it on your face. As cold as you can get it.
No tap nearby? Hold something cold. A drink, anything from the fridge.
Keep going.
Cold water. Do not stop yet.
Squeeze everything
Squeeze every muscle in your body. Make fists. Tighten your arms. Pull in your stomach. Squeeze your legs. Scrunch your face.
Everything at once. As hard as you can.
Hold for 10 seconds. Then let everything go completely.
Squeeze. Hold it.
Every muscle. As hard as you can.
One breath
Just one breath. Follow the circle.
Two short sniffs in through your nose.
Then one long slow breath out through your mouth.
One breath only.
Body scan
Start at the top of your head. Move slowly down to your feet.
Wherever you feel tension, let it go.
Just notice. Then release.
Your body just went through four steps designed to shift your nervous system. That is real.
Cold water activated your dive reflex and dropped your heart rate. Squeezing burned through the physical tension. The breath slowed your nervous system. The scan released what was left.
The feeling that brought you here needed your body in a high-alert state. It does not have that anymore.
Come back to the room you are in.
This takes about 2 minutes.
You just need to look around and notice things.
You just used five senses to bring yourself back into this moment. That is what grounding does.
When a strong feeling pulls at you, your brain loses track of where and when you actually are. Grounding works by giving your brain real information from your senses right now.
The feeling that brought you here was pulling you somewhere else. You just came back.