If you just discovered a body: Call 911 immediately if you haven't. Leave the scene — do not touch anything. Go somewhere safe and warm. Call someone to be with you. This guide covers what happens next, physically and emotionally.

In my work, I arrive after the police and medical examiner have left. By that point the scene has been processed and cleared. But the people who discovered the body — a neighbor checking in, a family member with a key, a landlord doing a welfare check — often still carry what they saw for years afterward.

Discovering a body, particularly an unattended death, a homicide scene, or a decomposition, is a traumatic event by any clinical definition. Your nervous system is going to respond in ways that may feel strange, wrong, or like they mean something about you. They don't. Here's what's actually happening and what you should do.

The First Hour: What to Actually Do

  1. Call 911 if you haven't. Even if it's obvious the person is dead. Law enforcement needs to respond and the death needs to be officially reported.
  2. Leave the scene. Don't touch anything. Don't clean anything. The scene is a potential crime scene regardless of how the person died — the medical examiner and police will determine cause of death.
  3. Go somewhere safe. Wait outside, in your car, or at a neighbor's house. You do not need to be in or near the space you found them.
  4. Let emergency services know you're in shock. If paramedics are on scene, tell them you discovered the body and are feeling unwell. Shock is a physical state — pale, clammy, shaking, nausea, tunnel vision. They can help.
  5. Call someone to be with you. Don't be alone in the next few hours if you can avoid it. Call a family member, friend, or neighbor. Tell them what happened and ask them to come.
  6. Don't give recorded statements until you've calmed down. You have the right to have someone with you. You can answer basic questions ("I found them at approximately X time, I came to check on them because...") but detailed statements can wait.

What Your Body Is Doing Right Now

Your nervous system's threat response has been activated — what's commonly called fight-or-flight. In the aftermath of a traumatic discovery, this manifests as:

  • Physical shock: shaking, nausea, lightheadedness, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing normally
  • Emotional numbness: not feeling anything, feeling detached, watching yourself from outside your body (dissociation)
  • Cognitive impairment: inability to think clearly, forgetting things, repeating yourself
  • Hyper-alertness: startling easily, difficulty sitting still, scanning for threats

All of these are normal acute trauma responses. They do not mean you're "losing your mind." They mean your threat-response system did its job. The goal in the next 24-48 hours is to allow your nervous system to come back to baseline.

The Next 24-48 Hours

Do not be alone if you can avoid it. Social connection is one of the most protective factors against developing PTSD following trauma. Being around trusted people — even without talking about what happened — helps regulate the nervous system.

Basic physiological needs matter:

  • Eat something, even if you're not hungry — blood sugar affects emotional stability
  • Drink water — shock and stress dehydrate
  • Sleep — your body needs to process the event during sleep. If you can't sleep, rest horizontally with your eyes closed. Don't fight it with stimulants.
  • Get warm — stress drops core temperature. A blanket, a warm shower, a hot drink.

Intrusive memories will likely start. The image of what you saw will come back uninvited — while you're trying to sleep, randomly during the day, triggered by smells or sounds. This is your brain attempting to process the event. It is uncomfortable but it is not dangerous. Trying to forcibly suppress the memories often intensifies them.

What to Tell People

You get to decide who you tell and how much. Some people immediately need to talk about it; others need to say nothing for a while. Both are fine.

If people ask what happened, "I found someone who had passed away unexpectedly and I'm still processing it" is complete. You don't owe anyone details.

For close family and friends you do tell: be prepared for them to handle it imperfectly. They may minimize ("at least they didn't suffer"), or overcorrect ("you must be traumatized!"), or ask intrusive questions. People mean well. Set the terms: "I just need someone to sit with me right now, I don't want to talk about it."

Returning to the Location

You may need to return to the location — if it's your own home, if you're a landlord who has property rights, if you're a family member dealing with estate matters. Before returning:

  • Professional biohazard cleanup must occur first. Do not return to any scene where biological material (blood, decomposition, body fluids) is present. This is a public health risk and a psychological one. See our guide on finding a legitimate cleanup company.
  • Consider whether you personally need to return at all, or whether someone else can handle the immediate practical matters.
  • If you must return, don't go alone the first time. Bring someone with you. A brief, purposeful visit is better than an extended one.
  • Some people find it helpful to see the cleaned, restored space — it breaks the association between the location and the traumatic image. Others find it retriggering regardless of the cleanup. Know yourself.

Week Two and Beyond: Watch for These Signs

Most people who discover a body experience distress in the first week that gradually reduces. The warning signs that you need professional help:

  • Flashbacks that are still occurring at 2 weeks out — vivid, involuntary replaying of the discovery
  • Nightmares about the event occurring multiple times per week
  • Inability to return to work or normal functioning
  • Extreme avoidance — not leaving your home, refusing to talk to anyone
  • Significant increase in drinking or substance use
  • Thoughts of self-harm or that you'd rather not be alive

These symptoms at two weeks or more indicate Acute Stress Disorder or developing PTSD — both very treatable when addressed early.

Who Can Help

Crisis lines (right now, if needed):

  • 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988. Not just for suicidal ideation — for any mental health crisis including severe trauma responses.
  • Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741

Victim advocacy services: If the death was a homicide or violent crime, you may be eligible for victim advocacy services — including free or subsidized trauma counseling — through your state's victim compensation program. See our guide to victim compensation funds.

Online therapy: If you don't have immediate access to in-person therapy, online therapy platforms give you same-week access to trauma-specialized therapists. Evidence-based for trauma: EMDR, CPT, and CBT are available on most platforms.

Your primary care doctor: If you're not sleeping at all, a short-term prescription for sleep support from your PCP can help stabilize the acute phase. Be honest about what happened.

Need help with the practical side of what you've been through? Our directory connects families with vetted biohazard cleanup specialists, estate attorneys, and grief counselors. Call (855) 566-2405 24/7.