If you're in immediate danger, call your local emergency number or go to your nearest emergency department. The services below are for what comes after.
If you need more than letters.
Hopepost is a quiet companion for hard days, not a crisis service. The lines below are free, confidential, and run by people who want to listen.
Crisis services around the world that are free, confidential, and answered around the clock. If you are in immediate distress right now, four numbers worth knowing: in Australia, Lifeline answers 24/7 on 13 11 14. In the United Kingdom, the Samaritans answer on 116 123. In the United States, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline answers on 988. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Lifeline Aotearoa answers on 0800 543 354. Most of these have text and chat options too, listed below by country. Outside those four, Find a Helpline lists trusted services in nearly every country in the world. This page only lists services we have verified ourselves. Hopepost is not a crisis service — we link out because the alternative, keeping you on a page of letters when you need a counsellor, is the wrong call.
Australia
Emergency: 000
Lifeline
Crisis support and suicide prevention.
13YARN
IndigenousA culturally safe support line by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Beyond Blue
Support for anxiety, depression, and emotional wellbeing.
SANE Australia
Help navigating mental health services and finding trusted information, particularly for complex mental health issues. Service navigation, not crisis counselling.
Suicide Call Back Service
Telephone and online counselling for anyone affected by suicide.
MensLine Australia
MenTelephone and online support for men with relationship, family, or emotional concerns.
Kids Helpline
YouthConfidential support for children, teens and young adults aged 5–25.
QLife
LGBTQIA+Anonymous LGBTIQ+ peer support and referral.
1800RESPECT
Domestic & family violenceNational domestic, family, and sexual violence counselling.
United Kingdom
Emergency: 999
Samaritans
Listening, free of charge, for anyone struggling to cope.
Shout
Confidential text-message support.
CALM
Campaign Against Living Miserably — support for anyone affected by suicide.
Papyrus HOPELINEUK
YouthFor people under 35 with thoughts of suicide.
Mind Infoline
Mental health information and support — not a crisis line.
SANEline
Out-of-hours mental health support.
Switchboard LGBT+
LGBTQIA+Support and information for LGBTQIA+ people.
Ireland
Emergency: 112 or 999
Samaritans Ireland
Listening service, free of charge.
Pieta
Suicide and self-harm crisis support.
Text About It (50808)
Free crisis text service.
Aware
Depression and bipolar support.
Jigsaw
YouthMental health support for ages 12 – 25.
Online chatHours vary — see site
United States
Emergency: 911
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
National crisis service — call, text, or chat. ASL videophone available.
Crisis Text Line
Text support for any kind of crisis.
The Trevor Project
LGBTQIA+Crisis support for LGBTQ+ young people under 25.
Trans Lifeline
LGBTQIA+Peer support by and for trans and questioning people.
Veterans Crisis Line
VeteransSupport for veterans, service members, and their families.
SAMHSA National Helpline
Addiction & substance useTreatment referral for substance use and mental health — not a crisis line.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Domestic & family violenceConfidential support for anyone affected by domestic violence.
Canada
Emergency: 911
9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline
National service for suicide prevention and emotional distress.
Kids Help Phone
YouthSupport for children and young people.
Hope for Wellness Helpline
IndigenousSupport for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people. Counsellors in English, French, Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut on request.
Trans Lifeline (Canada)
LGBTQIA+Peer support by and for trans and questioning people.
Wellness Together Canada
Mental health and substance-use support.
New Zealand / Aotearoa
Emergency: 111
1737 — Need to Talk?
Free call or text to a trained counsellor, any time.
Lifeline Aotearoa
Confidential telephone counselling.
Suicide Crisis Helpline
Suicide-specific support.
0508 828 86524/7Youthline
YouthSupport for people up to 25.
OUTLine
LGBTQIA+Support for the rainbow community.
South Africa
Emergency: 10111
SADAG Suicide Crisis Line
Suicide crisis support.
SADAG Mental Health Line
General mental health support and referrals.
Lifeline South Africa
National counselling service.
Childline South Africa
YouthSupport for children and young people.
India
Emergency: 112
Vandrevala Foundation
Mental health support.
iCall (TISS)
Psychosocial helpline run by Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
AASRA
Suicide prevention and emotional support.
Tele-MANAS
Government of India national mental health helpline.
Singapore
Emergency: 995
Samaritans of Singapore (SOS)
Suicide prevention and emotional support.
IMH Mental Health Helpline
Institute of Mental Health crisis line.
Anywhere else
Find a Helpline. A directory of trusted crisis lines in 130+ countries, searchable by what you need help with.
Recovery & peer support
Peer-support fellowships for people in recovery. All free, worldwide, and peer-led — and listed here as resources, not endorsements. Hopepost is not affiliated with any of them.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Worldwide twelve-step fellowship for people who want to stop drinking. Free, peer-led, in person and online.
Narcotics Anonymous
Worldwide twelve-step fellowship for recovery from drug addiction. Free, peer-led, in person and online.
SMART Recovery
Secular, evidence-based recovery community drawing on cognitive-behavioural therapy. Meetings worldwide, in person and online.
Recovery Dharma
Buddhist-informed peer recovery community for any addiction. Free, secular-friendly, with online and in-person sanghas worldwide.
Letter projects we admire
If letters help and you want more of them, these projects do different versions of the same idea. Reasons to Stay in particular is who we’d point you to first if you’re in a crisis place. They’re clinically moderated and built specifically for that.
Reasons to Stay
Clinically-moderated letters specifically for people experiencing suicidal thoughts. If you're in that place, this is the project to read.
From Me to You
UK charity that teaches anyone how to write a letter of comfort to someone going through illness, isolation, or grief. The project hopepost's first-line prompts are modelled on.
Letters to Strangers
Youth-led nonprofit running letter-exchange programs in schools and communities across dozens of countries. Pairs strangers to swap letters about mental health.
Letters Against Depression
Volunteers write physical letters to people experiencing depression.
More Love Letters
Strangers send handwritten letters to people nominated by someone who loves them.