Gaia Emergency Guidelines & Crisis Information

Gaia is a big community with over 250,000 people from all over the world. At times we find people who are going through a hard time and facing serious issues. Below are a few guidelines to follow when these things come up.

1) First of all, please know that you're in no way obligated to involve yourself! Much as we'd like to be of service, we're not licensed psychologists, doctors, lawyers or police, and neither the Gaia Team nor the Ambassadors can be expected to provide these services (in fact, doing so could get us in trouble with the law). Also, it is important to remember we don’t know the entire situation, and no matter how good our intentions, intervention might end up making things worse. Finally, as any licensed professional knows, it is impossible to make a diagnosis online; thus, the best thing for us to do is to encourage the troubled member reach out to someone close to them and to seek assistance from a professional who can help. As always, it's important to remember that even though Gaia Community is filled with supportive, loving people, the site is not meant to be a support group. We are not an emergency network and cannot replace professional services.

However, if you do feel called to intervene then you can…

2) Offer resources for that member to get help. (see the list below)

3) Be kind. It is always okay to offer words of support and well-wishing.

4) If the issue is very serious, alert the Team and we will see what we can do. Please note, though, that we have no legal authority regarding the private off-Gaia lives of our members.

5) If the issue involves a minor or indicates some sort of illegal act, alert the Team. Obviously, we can and will report certain issues involving children.

Crisis Hotlines & Resources