Where to Get Help
Most of this site is about understanding the system. But if something here has touched a nerve — your own wellbeing, a child's safety, money lost to a scam — this page is where to turn. These are starting points, not a replacement for a doctor, the police, or someone you trust. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency number first.
A note on countries: this is a global site, so the links below lean on international directories that route you to services where you live. As each language edition is localised, it will carry its own country's services.
If you feel overwhelmed, low, or unsafe in yourself
You do not have to work through it alone, and talking to a doctor or someone you trust is a good first step. These directories connect you to free support lines in your own country:
- Find A Helpline — search free helplines by country and topic.
- Befrienders Worldwide — a worldwide network of emotional-support centres.
Body image and eating
If your relationship with food, exercise, or how you look has started to feel like it is running you, that is worth taking seriously and help works.
- National Alliance for Eating Disorders — free helpline staffed by clinicians, plus referrals (US, with resources useful anywhere).
- Beat — eating-disorder helplines and support (UK).
Related on this site: Body Image, Mental Health.
If a child is being targeted or exploited online
If you believe a child is being groomed, coerced, or exploited, contact your local police. To report online child exploitation specifically:
- NCMEC CyberTipline — report child sexual exploitation (US-based, takes international reports).
- INHOPE — a network of national hotlines for reporting illegal content involving children.
Related on this site: Recruited to Harm, For Parents.
If you have lost money to a scam
It is not your fault, these schemes are engineered to work, and acting quickly helps. Stop sending money, keep the messages, and tell your bank straight away — they may be able to stop or recover a payment. Then report it to your national fraud or consumer-protection body (for example, reportfraud.ftc.gov in the US, or Action Fraud in the UK). Reporting helps investigators see the pattern even when one case cannot be recovered.
Related on this site: Get-Rich-Quick & Scams.
If you just want some distance from the feed
You do not need a crisis to want the machine to take up less room in your life. The practical steps — turning off the levers, changing the defaults, reclaiming attention — are gathered here:
- What to Do — individual, social, and structural steps, in order of impact.
- Tools — settings, extensions, and resources that help.