A mental health crisis plan is a written set of steps for recognizing rising distress, using coping strategies, contacting support, and getting urgent or emergency help when needed. This guide includes a practical personal safety plan template you can complete alone or with a counselor, trusted person, caregiver, or family member.
Overview
A crisis plan is not a prediction that a crisis will happen. It is a preparation tool that reduces decision-making when fear, hopelessness, agitation, confusion, or overwhelming emotion makes it difficult to think clearly. A useful plan should be specific, easy to find, and written in language that feels respectful rather than judgmental.
If there is immediate danger, a person has seriously harmed themselves or someone else, cannot stay safe, has a medical emergency, or may act on thoughts of suicide or violence, do not rely on this article or a written plan alone. Call the local emergency number or go to the nearest emergency department. In the United States and Canada, call or text 988 for crisis support; elsewhere, use the appropriate local crisis service. If possible, stay with the person, reduce access to immediate dangers, and follow instructions from emergency professionals.
For less urgent situations, a crisis plan can support mental health counseling, online counseling, anxiety counseling, depression help, or another existing care plan. It does not replace assessment or treatment by a qualified professional.
What to track
1. Early warning signs
List observable changes that may signal worsening distress. These might include sleeping very little or much more than usual, withdrawing from people, missing medication or appointments, rapid or racing thoughts, increased substance use, unusual irritability, feeling trapped, giving away important belongings, or saying that others would be better off without them. Include thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and behaviors. Early signs are often easier for a trusted person to notice than for the person experiencing them.
2. Personal calming strategies
Choose actions that are realistic during distress, not idealized self-care tasks that require substantial energy. Examples include paced breathing, drinking water, taking a shower, sitting in a quieter room, listening to familiar music, walking with someone, grounding through the five senses, writing a short journal entry, or postponing major decisions for 24 hours. Record what has helped before and what tends to make things worse.
3. People and places that increase safety
Write down two or three trusted contacts and how to reach them. Ask in advance whether they are willing to receive a call or text during a difficult period. Identify a safe place to go, such as a trusted person’s home, a staffed community setting, a counseling office, or another location where support is available. Do not list someone without their knowledge if you expect them to take an active role.
4. Professional and practical support
Include the name and contact details of a therapist, counselor, doctor, clinic, crisis service, or other professional involved in care. Add information about preferred communication methods, relevant diagnoses or medical conditions if the person wants them included, current medications and prescribing contact, allergies, and important accessibility or language needs. Keep this information accurate and private.
5. Safer surroundings
Note steps for reducing access to anything that could be used for self-harm or harm to another person. Depending on the situation, this may involve asking a trusted adult to hold medications, securing weapons, leaving an unsafe location, or arranging supervision. Make these decisions with the person and appropriate professionals whenever possible. Do not put one untrained supporter in charge of a high-risk situation.
Personal crisis plan template
My name and preferred pronouns: ____________________
My early warning signs: ____________________
What helps me feel calmer: ____________________
Things to avoid or pause: ____________________
People I can contact: Name __________ Contact __________
Safe places I can go: ____________________
My counselor, clinician, or care team: ____________________
My local crisis service: ____________________
Steps that make my environment safer: ____________________
What I want supporters to say or do: ____________________
What I do if I may not stay safe: Call local emergency services, use my local crisis service, go to emergency care, and tell a trusted person directly.
Cadence and checkpoints
Complete the first version when the person is relatively calm. Review it with a mental health professional if possible, then share only the necessary information with trusted supporters. Keep a copy somewhere accessible, such as a phone note, printed folder, secure patient portal, or agreed-upon location. A supporter may also keep a copy with the person’s permission.
Use three levels to decide what happens next:
- Routine support: Distress is present, but the person can remain safe. Use a coping strategy, contact a trusted person, schedule counseling, and monitor changes.
- Urgent support: Symptoms are escalating, the person cannot manage alone, or there are thoughts of self-harm or harm to others without immediate action. Contact a crisis service, clinician, urgent mental health service, or trusted supporter promptly. Do not leave the person alone if safety is uncertain.
- Emergency support: There is immediate danger, an attempt or serious injury, a specific and imminent plan, severe confusion, or inability to stay safe. Call local emergency services or go to emergency care now.
Review the plan monthly or quarterly, and check it after a crisis, major loss, relationship change, move, medication or treatment change, hospital discharge, recurring sleep disruption, substance-use change, or a new support person joining the care network.
How to interpret changes
Look for patterns rather than judging a single difficult day. Track sleep, isolation, appetite, substance use, agitation, hopelessness, missed care, and the effectiveness of coping strategies using brief notes or a simple 0-to-10 distress rating. A steady rise across several areas may justify earlier professional support even if no single sign seems dramatic.
Ask practical questions: Is the person able to follow the plan? Are the listed contacts answering? Are coping strategies still accessible? Has the level of risk changed? Has anything made the environment less safe? If the plan repeatedly fails, it needs revision—not blame. A counselor can help identify stronger supports, address anxiety or depression, and create a more detailed treatment or safety plan.
When supporting someone else, listen calmly, ask directly whether they are thinking about suicide or harming someone, and avoid promises of secrecy when safety is at risk. Take statements about danger seriously. You do not need to diagnose the person or solve the crisis alone.
When to revisit
Set a calendar reminder for a monthly or quarterly review. Replace outdated phone numbers, confirm that services still operate in the relevant location, and check whether contacts remain willing and available. Crisis-line numbers, emergency guidance, and local service links should be verified whenever regional recommendations change and during scheduled editorial or personal reviews.
At each review, complete these actions:
- Read the warning signs and add any new patterns.
- Test or confirm the contact details for professional and personal support.
- Remove coping strategies that were ineffective or unsafe and add alternatives.
- Reassess safer-environment steps, medication information, accessibility needs, and preferred language.
- Tell the support network what changed and what level of help is expected.
- Print or save the updated plan in an accessible, private place.
If you are making this plan because you feel unable to stay safe right now, stop editing the document and seek immediate help through local emergency services, a crisis line, emergency care, or a trusted person who can stay with you. A plan is most useful when it connects you to real human support before risk becomes unmanageable.
