Facts & Information

Lifeline provides all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to online, phone and face-to-face crisis support and suicide prevention services. Find out how these services can help you, a friend or loved one.

A crisis is someone’s personal reaction to an event or experience in their life they find hard to cope with.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide get help immediately. Choose life not suicide.

Call Lifeline 13 11 14 or 000 if life is in danger.

Asking for help or help-seeking is the process of finding and receiving support from others.

Getting help when you need it is really important to your physical and mental health.

Depression is a serious illness that can affect your physical and mental health, your relationships with others and your ability to work and enjoy life. Depression is one of the most common mental health problems. One in five people experience depression at some stage in their lives.

Domestic and Family violence is when someone who has a close personal relationship with you like a partner, spouse, or family member harms you, controls you or makes you feel afraid. The violence may not always be physical, but can be emotional or psychological and create just as much harm.

Family and relationship problems can occur between partners, spouses, parents, children, siblings, friends and other important people in your life. Signs of family and relationship problems include frequent arguing, disagreements, breakdown in communication, angry outbursts, avoidance and physical conflict.

Many people are facing hard financial times and the impact on mental health can be significant. These problems can seem impossible to overcome, but you can get help and take steps to improve your situation.

Loneliness is a feeling of sadness or distress about being by yourself or feeling disconnected from the world around you, particularly over a long period of time.

Everyone feels lonely sometimes but there are ways to get connected and overcome loneliness and isolation.

Loss and grief is something we all experience. How it impacts us depends on a range of things, including who or what we have lost, our personality, past history, upbringing, cultural heritage, spiritual beliefs, current circumstances and our social support networks.

A panic attack is a sudden rush of intense anxiety or fear together with a surge of frightening physical sensations and thoughts.

When gambling becomes an addiction it can cause emotional, social and financial distress and problems. Lots of people get into problems with gambling. You are not alone. Help is available.

Natural disasters are extremely challenging for the people directly affected. It takes time to recover, not just for individuals but entire communities.

People living in regional, rural or remote towns and communities often experience the same issues as everyone else. However, they also face additional challenges that impact on health and wellbeing.

Self-harm, (also known as deliberate self-injury or non-suicidal self-injury), is when someone deliberately inflicts physical harm on themselves. It is a behaviour that is used to cope with difficult or painful feelings.

Everyone experiences stress to some extent in their lives. Find out what causes stress and steps you can take to better manage stress.

Substance abuse or misuse is the harmful use of substances (like drugs and alcohol) for non-medical purposes. Some people are more likely to become addicted to a substance depending on their mental, physical and lifestyle factors.

Suicide Bereavement is the deep sadness and mourning felt after the loss of someone to suicide. The grief, confusion and anguish that comes from losing someone you love, a family member, a friend, or a colleague is devastating.