How The Space Responds in a Crisis

The Space is not a crisis service or an emergency service, and it is not monitored by people in real time. If you are in danger now, call 911. To reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call or text 988. For Spanish, call 988 and press 2, or text AYUDA to 988.

What it notices

The Space’s automated systems look for signs, in what you write or say, that you may be thinking about suicide, about harming yourself, or about seriously harming another person. Being upset, frustrated, or overwhelmed is not treated as a crisis.

What it does

When it notices those signs, The Space responds with care, asks plainly about your safety, tells you how to reach 988 and 911, and opens Reach Out, where crisis lines, domestic and relationship safety lines, other helplines, and ways to find a professional are kept. It does not try to manage a crisis itself. It is designed not to give instructions or encouragement for suicide, self-harm, or harming someone else.

Eating and your body

The Space can talk with you about food, weight, and your body like anything else in your life. When what you share suggests disordered eating, it will not give calorie, weight-loss, or fasting advice, and it will not praise restricting. If there are signs your body may be in danger, it will say plainly that you may need a doctor and point you to the ANAD Helpline (1-888-375-7767) and Reach Out.

Afterward

After a crisis moment, The Space stays more attentive for at least 72 hours and your next six messages. If you come back during that time, it may gently ask how you have been. It never contacts you first.

If the thoughts keep coming

If you keep telling The Space that you are thinking about suicide or about harming yourself, it does not move on or treat it as settled. Each time, it names 988 and 911 again, opens Reach Out again, and encourages you to reach a person now: someone you trust, 988, or a professional you already see. Its more attentive period starts over each time.

Other things it tries to notice

The Space also tries to notice when what you describe may be a medical emergency, such as taking too much of something or being unable to stay awake. When it does, it says plainly that this may need medical help now and names 911 and Poison Control (1-800-222-1222). If you have been drinking or using, it keeps things simple and does not lecture. If you seem to be losing touch with what is real, or going many days without sleep, it slows down, stays with how you feel, and encourages you to reach someone you trust. It does not label or diagnose any of this.

What The Space will not always catch

The Space does not recognize every kind of emergency, and it can miss the ones described above. Do not wait for it to notice. If you or someone near you may be in danger, call 911. 988 also answers for mental health and substance use crises.

Who may look

The Space is not monitored, and no one at Rheos Labs is alerted when a conversation turns to danger. A person at Rheos Labs looks at a conversation only if someone reports a concern to us at contact@rheoslabs.com, if the person whose conversation it is asks us to, if it is needed to keep the service secure, or if the law requires it. That inbox is not watched around the clock. If a report leads us to believe in good faith that there is an immediate danger of death or serious physical injury, we may share what is needed with emergency services or law enforcement. Because no one watches conversations as they happen, this is something we may do, not something we can promise. And if what we read ever leads us to suspect that a child, or an adult who cannot protect themselves (for example, because of age, illness or a disability, including an intellectual disability), is being abused, neglected or exploited (including having their money or property taken), we will report it to the authorities who protect them, as New Mexico law asks of everyone.

What it does not do

The Space does not contact anyone for you. Only you can send a note to a support person you have chosen, through Reach Out.

If someone is being abused, neglected or exploited

Anyone can report it. You do not need proof, only a real concern. For a child anywhere in the United States, call or text the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453, any time (childhelphotline.org). For an adult who cannot protect themselves, the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 connects you with Adult Protective Services in their state (eldercare.acl.gov). In New Mexico, for a child call CYFD at 1-855-333-7233 (or #SAFE from a cell phone), and for an adult call Adult Protective Services at 1-866-654-3219; both answer 24 hours a day. If someone is in danger right now, call 911.

How often this happens

By December 31 each year, we publish here how many times in the previous calendar year The Space pointed someone to crisis resources. That count is kept as a number only, with no words and no account attached. Your conversations themselves are stored with your account, as our Privacy Policy explains, and The Space keeps a short note on your account for a few days after a crisis moment so that it stays attentive. Those are what an authorized person would look at in the situations described under “Who may look.”