Library

Level 1 · Notice

Breathing a little more slowly than usual, with a longer breath out than in, is something many people try when they feel wound up. You can stop whenever you like.

Limits: It may not help everyone, and it will not remove a problem. Stop if it makes you dizzy or more uneasy.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if you have breathing or heart conditions, or if slow breathing brings on panic.

Level 1 · Notice

Name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell and one you can taste. Or press your feet into the floor and notice the contact. The aim is to bring attention back to the room.

Limits: Grounding can steady a moment. It does not address why the moment felt hard. A full version is on our comfort tools page.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if focusing on your body or surroundings feels frightening or brings up memories.

Level 2 · Understand

Slowly moving your attention through the body, or resting it on one thing such as breath or sound, and gently coming back when it wanders. Mindfulness research is on the Science of the Mind shelf below.

Limits: Research results are mixed and depend on the person and the program. Check their site for current summaries.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if you have a history of trauma, or if quiet attention tends to bring up distressing thoughts.

Level 2 · Understand

Tightening one muscle group gently for a few seconds, then letting go, and moving through the body. Many people use it to notice where they hold tension.

Limits: It is a skill that takes practice. Check their site for current details.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if you have an injury, pain, or a muscle or joint condition. Skip any muscle group that hurts.

Level 2 · Understand

A regular wake time, a dim and quiet wind-down, and keeping screens out of the last stretch before bed are common ideas for easing into sleep.

Limits: Routines help some people and not others. Trouble sleeping has many causes.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if sleep problems last for weeks, or if you snore loudly, stop breathing at night, or feel very sleepy in the day.

Level 1 · Notice

A short walk, stretching, or sitting outside. Any amount counts, and rest is a valid choice too.

Limits: Weather, safety, disability, money and neighborhood all affect what is possible. Not being able to is not a personal failing.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if you have a heart condition, are recovering from an injury, or have been told to limit activity.

Level 1 · Notice

Writing in your own words, and giving a pressure a name so it feels less like it is you. This is the externalising idea from narrative practice, already on the archive home page.

Limits: Writing can bring up strong feelings. You choose what to write and whether to keep it. This site does not save it.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if writing about hard events leaves you feeling worse for a long time afterward.

Level 2 · Understand

Ask what matters to you, then pick one small step that fits that value and your real energy today. Planners call this behavioral activation.

Limits: If a step keeps not happening, the barrier may be time, money or support, not effort. Make the step smaller or ask for help.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if low energy or low mood has lasted most days for two weeks or more.

Level 1 · Notice

Send one message, sit near someone you trust, or join a group that shares an interest. Small contact counts.

Limits: Not every connection is safe or kind. You can choose who, how much and when.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if being around people feels unsafe, or if a relationship is hurting you.

Level 1 · Notice

Notice when scrolling stops feeling useful. Some people set a stopping time, mute a topic, or move the phone out of reach at night.

Limits: News and online communities can also be a real source of information and connection. This is a prompt, not a rule.

Who should check with a clinician first: Check with a clinician first if you cannot cut back and it is getting in the way of daily life.

Level 3 · Check carefully

A safety plan is a short note you write for yourself, ideally with someone you trust or a clinician. Use paper or a private note. This site does not save it, and there are no ads on this page.

• Warning signs: what do I notice when things are getting harder?
• Things I can do on my own that have helped before.
• People or places that help me feel steadier.
• People I can ask for help, and how to reach them.
• Professionals and services I can contact (see the directory on the archive home page).
• Ways to make my space safer.

In crisis in the U.S.: call or text 988. For immediate danger, call 911. Urgent help by country

Natural history literature, scanned and open to read.

Public-domain books. Search for natural history titles.

Books, journals and images. Rights vary by item, so check each item's page.

Community-transcribed source texts.

Plates and illustrations. Each file lists its own license.

Open textbooks on physics and astronomy.

Open textbooks on chemistry.

Open textbooks on biology. For historical writing, see the natural history shelf above.

Open textbooks on earth and environmental science. Check their site for which titles are listed now.

Open textbooks on math and statistics.

Open textbooks on computing and data. Check their site for which titles are listed now.

Plain-language health information. This is general information, not personal medical advice.

International health information and reports.

Open textbooks on the social sciences.

Level 2 · Understand

A free introductory textbook that covers most areas of psychology in plain language. A good place to start before the topics below.

Limits: A survey textbook. It is not a guide to your own situation.

Who should check with a clinician first: Not needed for reading. Talk with a clinician about anything you recognise in your own life.

Level 2 · Understand

How the brain and nervous system are studied. Brain findings describe groups of people, not what is wrong with one person.

Limits: Headlines often claim more than a single study shows. See research literacy below.

Who should check with a clinician first: Talk with a clinician before drawing conclusions about yourself from brain research.

Level 2 · Understand

How people notice, remember and focus, and why memory is reconstructive rather than a recording. Start with the OpenStax Psychology chapters.

Limits: Findings describe typical patterns and vary a lot between people.

Who should check with a clinician first: Talk with a clinician if memory or attention changes worry you.

Level 2 · Understand

Kahneman and Tversky's work on thinking shortcuts is already on the archive home page, among the Level 1 cards.

Limits: These are human tendencies. They are not a test of intelligence or mental health.

Who should check with a clinician first: Not needed for reading.

Level 2 · Understand

How the body responds to stress and strong feeling. Preferred sources are NIMH, APA and WHO.

Limits: Check their site for current pages. Body signs have many possible causes.

Who should check with a clinician first: Talk with a clinician about physical symptoms that worry you.

Level 2 · Understand

What researchers know about sleep and why it matters for mood and thinking.

Limits: Needs differ between people and across life stages.

Who should check with a clinician first: Talk with a clinician if sleep trouble lasts or affects your days.

Level 3 · Check carefully

Structured mindfulness programs have been studied by researchers. Read reviews and notice how strong the evidence is for the group studied.

Limits: Evidence strength: Check their site and the reviews it cites. Results vary by program and population.

Who should check with a clinician first: Talk with a clinician before starting a structured program if you have a history of trauma or serious mental-health conditions.

Level 3 · Check carefully

How early experiences and later events can shape trust and safety. A hard subject to read about, so go at your own pace and skip what is too much.

Limits: General information. It cannot tell you what happened to you or what you need.

Who should check with a clinician first: Talk with a clinician if reading brings up distress. Crisis help is at the top of every page.

Level 2 · Understand

How people change from childhood to older age. Start with the OpenStax Psychology chapters.

Limits: Stage models describe averages. People develop at different paces.

Who should check with a clinician first: Talk with a pediatrician or clinician about a particular child's development.

Level 2 · Understand

Ideas that look at people in their families and communities, and at the stories told about them. The Dulwich Centre library is already linked on the archive home page.

Limits: A practice community's own writing. The research review on the home page rates the overall evidence as very uncertain.

Who should check with a clinician first: Talk with a licensed clinician before using these ideas in a family conflict.

Level 2 · Understand

William James's Principles of Psychology (1890) is a public-domain classic. Read it as history, not as current science.

Limits: Written long ago. Some ideas and words have been replaced.

Who should check with a clinician first: Not needed for reading.

Level 3 · Check carefully

Ask who was studied, compared with what, how big the effect was, whether the result has been repeated, and what the study cannot say. The Level 3 research card on the archive home page shows this with a real review.

Limits: No single study settles a question. Label the strength of evidence whenever you cite it.

Who should check with a clinician first: Bring a study you found to a clinician and ask how it applies to you.