⚠️ MEDICAL EMERGENCY
If you're in danger to self or others: 911 or ER now
If this is medication-induced (akathisia): this is a known brain emergency — get medical help
US crisis line: 988 (call or text)
Text: HOME to 741741
International: findahelpline.com
Whatever your body needs to do right now is allowed:
None of this is failure. All of this is valid.
You can do any of these while noticing.
Noticing doesn't require stillness. Noticing doesn't require fixing. Noticing is just: seeing that you're in a storm.
The more you notice, the more you see the differences between this NOW and the next.
The anchor can be anything that repeats:
Mix them up. Mix and match. No rules.
You may feel hate. You may feel blame. Those too are things we perseverate on — and panic.
Panic and Perseveration — the P's we don't prefer.
(Perseveration ≠ perseverance. Big difference. One is stuck. One is choice.)
They can be noticed too. Not fixed. Not judged. Just: noticed.
Just be safe and kind — to yourself and others. Period.
Each one is different from the last — even if you can't see it yet.
They keep coming like waves. Wave after wave after wave.
The tides change. The storms pass.
It will be okay. And so are you.
If you take nothing else from this:
Notice.
That's the practice. Not "fix." Not "change." Not "stop."
Just: notice.
Notice what you're feeling. Notice it's feedback — not punishment, not proof you're broken. Just your system telling you something.
You're suffering because you're not at steady state yet. That's all. Not a verdict. Just: not there yet.
With noticing, choice appears. You can notice you're panicking and keep panicking. You don't have to do anything about it.
But now you have a choice you didn't have before.
Day by day when you can. Hour by hour when you can't. Minute by minute when an hour is too long. Breath by breath when a minute is impossible.
There's always a frame small enough to survive. Find it. Stay in it.
You're not crazy.
Read that again.
You're not crazy.
You're overwhelmed. That's different.
Here's how you know you're still here:
Look at one thing in front of you. Name it. Out loud if you can.
You're still here.
You can stop reading now. Nothing else here is required.
If this might be a medical emergency (chest pain, first-time symptoms) — call 911 now.
If you've been here before and know it's panic:
You are not dying. You are not going crazy. Your body is wrong about the danger, but it is not broken.
Your only job: do not make permanent decisions while this wave is peaking.
The way out is through. Let it pass over you.
"I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me."
Chronic illness, chronic pain, disability, a body you hate — none of that disqualifies you from this practice.
This pamphlet doesn't require a body that works. It requires only that you notice you exist.
If you can notice any sensation at all — pain included — you're here. That's enough.
Restlessness, looping thoughts, skin-crawling energy.
If you can move — move. Walk, shake, push against a wall.
If you can't — clench every muscle for five seconds, release. Repeat.
If even that's too much — just name it: "This is restlessness."
You don't have to fix it. You just have to survive it.
Sometimes nothing works. Sometimes you just endure.
Time stretches because you're measuring every second.
Shrink the frame until it fits:
Find the smallest survivable unit. Stay there.
Your only job tonight: no permanent decisions.
Wait with me → · Too much light?
You can stop here. Come back later, or not at all.
Grief is love with nowhere to go.
You can't grieve what you didn't love. The size of the grief is the size of the love.
The pain is the collision between the world you had and the world you have now.
You can't undo the collision. You can be with it.
You know what you're doing is wrong and you're doing it anyway.
Shame doesn't help. If it worked, you'd have stopped.
Try dropping the judgment layer, not the behavior (you may not be able to drop that yet).
If the behavior harms you or others — get professional help. You can drop shame and still get help.
No big trauma. Just endless small disappointments stacking up.
The weight is cumulative. You're not weak — you're carrying fifty pounds of pebbles.
You don't need permission to set the backpack down for a minute.
Stop adding new pebbles today. That's enough.
Ground — 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, guided
Breathe — box, 4-7-8, or simple breathing
Shake — movement for restlessness
Wait — a timer that counts with you
Dark — when light is too much
HAL — a place to think out loud. Not a crisis line. Just: someone to be with.
If stuck in thought: Name it out loud: "This is anxiety."
If you can laugh: Find anything funny, even dark. Laughter is release.
Phrases: I have arrived. I am home. — This too. — Just this.
Understanding is optional. Rest is not.
Get professional help if you:
If you have been prescribed rescue medication — this is the moment to use it.
Crisis survival is not healing. You deserve both.
If you're trying to understand this, pause. Understanding is optional.
You never actually left.
You've been here the whole time — reading, noticing, moving, breathing.
You're already home.
Print this pamphlet
This is not medical advice.
It's one person's perspective on surviving hard moments.
It cannot replace professional care.
When you have breathing room (later, not now):
There's a longer guide that explains what's happening in your brain — why the habenula fires, why movement helps, why noticing works. It's called The Habenula Storm.
Don't read it during crisis. It's for when you're at 4-7/10, not 8-10/10.
Optional. Not required. This pamphlet is enough.
by sum1 who has been through this,
and needs this when they forget.
SCREAM. DANCE. MOVE. STILL. MOTION.
SIT. CRY. LAUGH. DON'T. OKAY.
The key is NOTICE.
Whatever your body needs is allowed:
SCREAM — if the sound needs out
DANCE — if the energy needs movement
MOVE — pace, shake, push walls
STILL — if you want
MOTION — if you can't be still
CRY — tears are release
LAUGH — even dark laughter
DON'T — do nothing if that's there
OKAY — wherever you are is okay
None of this is failure. All of this is valid.
You can do any of these while noticing.
Find the chapter that names what you're in. Read it. That's all.
If nothing fits, start with "You're Not Crazy."
If you take nothing else from this pamphlet:
That's the practice. Not "fix." Not "change." Not "stop."
Just: notice.
Notice what you're feeling. Notice it's feedback — not punishment, not proof you're broken. Just your system telling you something.
You're suffering because you're not at steady state yet. That's all. Not a verdict. Just: not there yet.
With noticing, choice appears. You can notice you're panicking and keep panicking. You don't have to do anything about it.
But now you have a choice you didn't have before.
Day by day when you can. Hour by hour when you can't. Minute by minute when an hour is too long. Breath by breath when a minute is impossible.
There's always a frame small enough to survive. Find it. Stay in it.
You're not crazy.
Read that again.
You're not crazy.
You're overwhelmed. That's different.
Here's how you know you're still here:
Look at one thing in front of you. Name it. Out loud if you can.
You're still here.
If this might be a medical emergency (chest pain, first-time symptoms, etc.) — call 911 now.
If you've been here before and know it's panic:
You are not dying. You are not going crazy. Your body is wrong about the danger, but it is not broken.
Your only job: do not make permanent decisions while this wave is peaking.
The way out is through. Let it pass over you.
One phrase that sometimes helps:
"I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me."
Chronic illness, chronic pain, disability, a body you hate — none of that disqualifies you from this practice.
This pamphlet doesn't require a body that works. It requires only that you notice you exist.
If you can notice any sensation at all — pain included — you're here. That's enough.
Restlessness, looping thoughts, skin-crawling energy.
If you can move — move. Walk, shake, push against a wall.
If you can't — clench every muscle for five seconds, release. Repeat.
If even that's too much — just name it: "This is restlessness." You don't have to fix it. You just have to survive it.
Sometimes nothing works. Sometimes you just endure.
Time stretches because you're measuring every second.
Shrink the frame until it fits:
Find the smallest survivable unit. Stay there.
Your only job tonight: no permanent decisions.
Grief is love with nowhere to go.
You can't grieve what you didn't love. The size of the grief is the size of the love.
The pain is the collision between the world you had and the world you have now.
You can't undo the collision. You can be with it.
You know what you're doing is wrong and you're doing it anyway.
Shame doesn't help. If it worked, you'd have stopped.
Try dropping the judgment layer, not the behavior (you may not be able to drop that yet).
If the behavior harms you or others — get professional help. You can drop shame and still get help.
No big trauma. Just endless small disappointments stacking up.
The weight is cumulative. You're not weak — you're carrying fifty pounds of pebbles.
You don't need permission to set the backpack down for a minute.
Stop adding new pebbles today. That's enough.
5-4-3-2-1 Grounding
5 things you see. 4 you can touch. 3 you hear. 2 you smell. 1 you taste.
If stuck in thought
Name it out loud: "This is anxiety." Write it if you can.
If you can laugh
Find anything remotely funny, even dark. Laughter is your body saying "I can still release."
Phrases
I have arrived. I am home. — This too. — Just this.
Get professional help if you:
If you have been prescribed rescue medication — this is the moment to use it.
Crisis survival is not healing. You deserve both.
If you're trying to understand this, pause. Understanding is optional.
You never actually left.
You've been here the whole time — reading, noticing, breathing.
You're already home.
If you're still here,
you haven't lost yet.
When you have breathing room:
The Habenula Storm — why the brain does this
(for 4-7/10, not 8-10/10)
US crisis: 988
Text HOME to 741741
findahelpline.com
apamphlet.com