Why Support Chat can't help if you're in crisis (and who can) 💚

Sometimes, Support Chat moderators will ask if you're in crisis (or if you feel 'safe'). There are important reasons for this that you might not know, so I thought I'd explain here.

Community Guidelines wrote:

To keep other community members safe, I’ll use crisis services if I’m in crisis.

There are two main reasons for this guideline:

1. Nobody here is trained to support people in crisis
2. Crisis conversations easily worry or trigger other people

If you do come to Support Chat in crisis, nobody in that room (including the moderators) can give you the level of support you need in that moment. Crisis services can.

Additionally, conversations with people in crisis can be upsetting, worrying, and triggering. In a group space, that can quickly make a lot of other people feel unsafe or uncomfortable.

That's why we link to one-to-one crisis services like Papyrus, Samartians, or Crisis Messenger - you don't need to filter what you say when you speak to them.

That doesn't mean it's bad to be in crisis. Those feelings are real, valid, and not something you should be judged for. You deserve care and support from people who can provide that safely. 💚

Bonus question: what do we mean by 'crisis'?

Being in crisis means needing urgent support for any reason. That includes:

• Immediate, overwhelming self-harm urges
• Suicidal intent, including sharing plans (for any point in time)
• Levels of distress that prevent you from being present (e.g. panic attack, psychotic episode)
• An immediate, physical life crisis (e.g. if you're running away from home)