DON'T PANIC.
● The Panic Button · free, no signup

What's happening right now?

Pick the one that fits. Each is a few steps, in order, written for the worst night rather than the best one. Nothing to install, no account, no card. This is self-help, not medical care. If you're in danger, the crisis lines are right below.

In immediate danger, or thinking about ending your life? Go straight to the crisis lines ↓
Estimated 3-5 min

I'm Having a Panic Attack

  1. Stop moving. Stop talking.
    Sit down or lean against something solid. Both feet flat on the ground. You are safe. Your body doesn't know that yet · but you do.
  2. Ground · 5-4-3-2-1
    Name out loud: 5 things you can SEE · 4 you can TOUCH · 3 you can HEAR · 2 you can SMELL · 1 you can TASTE. Naming forces your thinking brain back online.
  3. Breathe · extended exhale
    Inhale through the nose 4s. Exhale through the mouth 8s. Twice as long out as in. Do 8–10 rounds. A long exhale is one of the fastest brakes your body has.
  4. Hands on chest
    Feel your heartbeat. Don't slow it · just feel it. If this is the panic you know, it's doing its job, responding to a false alarm. New or crushing chest pain, or pain spreading to your arm or jaw, is a 911 call, not a drill.
  5. Cold water
    Cold water on the face triggers the dive reflex · heart rate drops, vagus nerve fires. A physiological override.
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Estimated 3-5 min

I'm Craving Right Now

  1. The 90-second rule
    Every craving builds, peaks at ~90 seconds, then fades. You don't have to beat it. You have to survive 90 seconds. Start counting.
  2. Physical interrupt
    Cold water on the face. OR grip something solid and squeeze 30s, then release. OR walk outside right now · new environment, new neurochemistry.
  3. The HALT check
    Most cravings are a mislabeled need. Am I Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired? Address the real deficit and the craving often dissolves.
  4. Redirect the energy
    A craving is energy. 20 hard pushups. Flood the system with a different intensity. The muscular fatigue competes with the craving signal.
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Estimated 10-15 min

I Can't Sleep

  1. Get out of bed
    If you've been lying there 20+ minutes, get up. Don't let your brain link the bed with stress. The bed is for sleep.
  2. What NOT to do
    Don't check the time. Don't pick up your phone. Don't turn on bright lights. Each one is a cortisol or melatonin sabotage.
  3. Breathe · extended exhale
    Inhale 4s, exhale 8s. 8–10 rounds. Shifts your nervous system from wired to ready-for-rest.
  4. Legs up the wall
    Lie on your back, legs straight up a wall, palms up. 5–10 minutes. Your nervous system reads this as safety and downshifts.
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Estimated 5-7 min

I'm Spiraling / Anxious

  1. Recognize the spiral
    Say it: “I am spiraling. These are thoughts, not reality. I am the awareness watching the thoughts · not the thoughts themselves.” That separation is everything.
  2. Box breathing 4-4-4-4
    Inhale 4 · hold 4 · exhale 4 · hold 4. 5–8 rounds. The holds interrupt the rapid breathing that feeds anxiety.
  3. ETD Express · name it
    One word for what you feel. Then locate it in your body. “I feel anxiety. It's in my chest.” In a UCLA brain-imaging study (Lieberman et al., 2007), putting a feeling into words measurably quieted the amygdala.
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Estimated 5-10 min

I'm About to Relapse

  1. STOP
    Stop what you're doing. Take 3 breaths. Observe what triggered this · there's always something underneath. Proceed with intention. You caught the autopilot.
  2. Call someone. Right now.
    The phone call IS the intervention. “I'm struggling right now and I need to talk.” Relapse happens in isolation · break it.
  3. Change your environment
    Leave the room. Leave the house. Go outside. Not optional. Cravings are context-dependent · remove the cues.
  4. 90-second protocol
    Cold water on the face. Grip and release. Extended exhale 4-in / 8-out. Survive the 90-second peak.
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Estimated 3-5 min

I'm Angry and About to React

  1. The 6-second rule
    For ~6 seconds the surge hijacks your prefrontal cortex. Count to 6 before you speak or act. That's the difference between the thing you can't take back and saying nothing.
  2. Exhale the charge
    3 sharp exhales through the mouth · blow out a candle across the room. Then shift to 4-in / 8-out for 6 rounds. Vent the charge so it doesn't come out as words or fists.
  3. Clench and release
    Make fists as tight as you can. Hold 10s. Release completely. The release after maximal contraction IS the regulation.
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Estimated 5-10 min

I Feel Nothing / I'm Numb

  1. Understand what this is
    Numbness is dorsal vagal shutdown · your nervous system's deepest protection, not weakness. The goal isn't to force feeling. Body first. Always body first.
  2. Wake the body up
    Cold water on hands and face. Stamp your feet · 10 per foot. Squeeze ice. Any sensation is a bridge back.
  3. Bilateral movement
    Walk · left foot, right foot. Or rock side to side. Or tap your knees left-right-left-right for 30–60s. Same principle as EMDR. The freeze begins to thaw.
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Crisis Resources

Real humans, on the line right now. Reaching out is the strong move.

In immediate danger → call 911Emergency services · US & Canada Call 988Suicide & Crisis Lifeline · US & Canada · free · 24/7 Text 988Same line, by text Text HOME to 741741Crisis Text Line · US Text 686868Crisis Text Line · Canada Outside North Americafindahelpline.com · verified lines for every country

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The panic button is the emergency lever. The system is the part that makes you reach for it less often: a daily practice, a journey that hands you the next move, and a library for the nights you go looking. The first door is free too.

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