Grounding for panic: 5-4-3-2-1
Name five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, one you can taste. It doesn't stop fear — it reminds your body where it actually is.
Self-help library
Small practices that hold up on hard days.
These are the same exercises we teach in sessions. Try one for a week rather than all six for a day.
Worry time
Pick fifteen minutes each evening. When a worry arrives earlier, write one line and postpone it to that slot. Most worries lose their urgency before the slot arrives.
Behavioural activation
When mood is low, action comes before motivation. Choose one small activity that used to matter, shrink it until it's almost too easy, then do that.
Thought record
Situation, automatic thought, evidence for, evidence against, a fairer thought. Written down, thoughts become claims you can question instead of facts you must obey.
Sleep wind-down
Same wake time daily, screens parked an hour before bed, bed only for sleep. If you're awake beyond twenty minutes, get up, sit in dim light, return when sleepy.
Self-compassion pause
Three sentences: this is hard right now; hard moments are part of being human; what would I say to a friend here? Then say that to yourself, out loud.
If things feel unsafe
Talk to a person, today.
Thoughts of ending your life, harming yourself, or harming someone else are a reason to reach a human being — not something to sit with alone or take to a chatbot.
Tele-MANAS (Government of India)
14416 or 1-800-891-4416 — 24x7, many languages
Emergency services
112 — immediate danger to life
KIRAN mental health helpline
1800-599-0019 — 24x7
AASRA
+91 98204 66726 — 24x7 emotional support