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Bring your attention back to where you actually are
Self-help is not the right tool for an emergency. If you or someone else is in danger, call 999 or go to A&E. If you need urgent mental-health help but it is not an emergency, use NHS 111 online or call 111 and select the mental-health option.
When thoughts are racing or anxiety is pulling you into imagined futures, grounding can help reconnect attention with the present moment.
Try 5-4-3-2-1
Notice five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell and one you can taste. Do it slowly enough to actually notice them.
Use temperature and contact
Feel your feet against the floor, hold a cool drink, notice the chair supporting you, or run your hands under comfortably cool water. The aim is attention, not punishment or pain.
Grounding isn't a cure
It is a coping technique. Repeated panic, severe anxiety, trauma symptoms or other persistent difficulties deserve appropriate assessment and treatment.
Self-help doesn't mean alone
Good to Talk home · When to get help · When self-help isn't enough
Sources & further reading
- NHS Every Mind Matters — mental wellbeing tips
- NHS Every Mind Matters — mental health issues
- NHS — self-help
Self-help can support mental wellbeing, but it is not a substitute for professional assessment or treatment when those are needed.