The Anxiety Doctor

If you're in danger right now

Call your local emergency number, or go to the nearest emergency room. Please don't work through a worksheet instead.

Emergency services

  • United States, Canada 911
  • United Kingdom, Ireland 999 or 112
  • Australia 000
  • New Zealand 111
  • India 112
  • South Africa 112 · police 10111 · ambulance 10177
  • Anywhere in the EU 112

Crisis lines

Free, staffed by trained people, and you do not have to be suicidal to call. Feeling overwhelmed is reason enough.

Everywhere else

findahelpline.com lists verified crisis lines in around 130 countries and keeps them current. If your country isn't above, start there.

A note on reaching out

If you have OCD, the urge to seek reassurance can be a compulsion — and calling a crisis line repeatedly for reassurance about an intrusive thought can feed it rather than settle it. That is worth discussing with a clinician who knows your case.

None of which applies when you are genuinely unsafe. If you're in danger, call. Sorting out afterwards whether it was a compulsion is a far better problem to have.