Talk to someone now Talk to someone now via SMS
navigator does not provide emergency support. If you or someone else is in danger right now, please take the following steps.
Reaching out to someone you trust
If you’re really struggling, try talking to someone you trust – a friend, family member, nurse or GP, counsellor, teacher or youth worker. You don’t have to go through this alone. Sharing what’s going on can be the first step to feeling better.
Our resources on how to open up to someone about your mental health and how to tell someone you are feeling suicidal may help you start these conversations.
Reviewing your safety plan (if you already have one)
A safety plan is a personalised list of coping strategies and sources of emergency support that are specific to you. They can help you lower the immediate risk of suicide or self-harm by providing a clear plan for how to cope and where to find help.
If you already have a safety plan:
- Try some of your preferred coping strategies to calm or soothe yourself
- Contact the friend, mental health service or professional whom you’ve identified as trustworthy and responsive
- Take action to make your environment safe by reducing access to things that could be used to harm yourself
If you don’t have a safety plan yet, that’s okay. Find practical, immediate ways of lowering your distress in our articles on self-harm distraction techniques and coping with suicidal thoughts in the moment.
Speaking anonymously to a trained volunteer from Text About It by spunout
navigator does not provide emergency support, but it can connect you to Text About It – a free, anonymous, 24/7 messaging service offering everything from a calming chat to immediate support for mental health and wellbeing.
Talk to someone now Talk to someone now via SMS
Text About It provides a safe space where you’re listened to by a trained volunteer, who can help you create a safety plan, or access further supports if you are experiencing a mental health emergency. However, Text About It does not provide clinical advice or long-term support. If they assess that a person’s life is at immediate risk and they are unable to engage in safety planning, they may contact emergency services.
Getting an ambulance
If you or someone else’s life is at risk, or if a person is seriously injured, call 112 or 999 for an ambulance.
Visiting an Emergency Department
You can visit an Emergency Department at any time of the day or night and they are open 365 days a year.
To find an emergency department near you, visit the HSE website.
When not to use navigator
The Navigator tool does not provide:
- Clinical advice
- Psychological therapy of any kind, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or other types of psychotherapy or counselling
- Emergency support for someone who is seriously injured or at imminent risk of suicide
When to use navigator
navigator is most helpful for people aged 14 to 34 who are seeking mental health support and information and are not at immediate risk. Or those looking for support and information for someone in their life.
navigator provides:
- Expert-approved information on mental health
- Real life stories from young people in Ireland with lived experience of mental health difficulties and recovery
- Guided activities, such as belly breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, to help reach calm in moments of stress or panic
- Signposting to services in Ireland, some of which may provide out-of-hours emergency support
- Connection to Text About It, where you can talk to someone now
