What this site is, and what it isn't

What it's for

Stay With Me exists for the hours that are hard to be awake for — when staying alive feels like the only thing on the list, when the thoughts about ending things are loud, or when something has already happened and you don't know what to do next.

It's built to be a way through the next few minutes: something to hold onto, something to do with your hands, somewhere gentle to put your attention. It won't ask you to promise anything about tomorrow.

Why this isn't professional help

Everything here is written in advance. There's no counsellor, doctor, or crisis worker reading this page, and nobody is notified when you use it. It can't see your situation, can't assess an injury, an overdose, or how much danger you're in, and it can't call anyone for you.

That means it isn't therapy, medical care, or a diagnosis, and it isn't a replacement for a person. If your body may be hurt or something has been taken, a real medical professional is the only thing that can actually assess that — and asking for that help isn't an escalation or a failure.

Saying that isn't a warning or a push. You get to decide what you do with it.

It's a coping thing, for right now

Think of this as a coping mechanism for the time being — a way of getting from this minute to the next one, not a plan for your life. Delaying, distracting, grounding, and waiting things out are real, legitimate coping tools, and they work best as a bridge to something more lasting: a person you trust, a clinician, a helpline, a support service.

If tonight all you can do is get through tonight, that's a complete and acceptable outcome.

Nothing you write here is shared

Anything you type — your unsent letter, your reasons to stay, anything you check off — stays in your own browser on your own device. It isn't sent to a server, isn't stored in an account, and isn't read by us or anyone else.

There are no logins, no tracking, no analytics, and no ads. Nothing you do here alerts a person, a service, or emergency responders. You can delete what you've written at any time and it's gone.

One practical note, said kindly: because it lives in your browser, someone else using your device could open it. If that matters to you, you can delete your writing when you're done, or use a private window.

How it tries to talk to you

• No shaming, guilt-tripping, or scare tactics.
• No arguing with you about whether your pain is real.
• No demands, ultimatums, or promises you have to make.
• Nothing assumes you want to be talked out of anything.
• You can leave any page, any time, without finishing it.