Everyone at some point in his or her life will experience crisis
Crisis?
A crisis is an emotional upset that is caused by an unexpected event or series of events such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, the loss of a job, an illness or a family conflict. It could be midlife or it could be adolescence; it could be at any time of life. You can experience stress to such a degree that emotionally you feel acutely upset and overwhelmed. At these times you may loose the ability to think straight make decisions and be confused by the fact that you feel helpless and unable to cope.
In crisis?
Life changing events, such as those highlighted in the list on the left hand side, are examples of some events which may lead to a crisis.
Crisis can take the form of many different emotions that can make you feel overwhelmed and confused. You could be in crisis if your experiencing one or more of the following:
- Life feels out of control – you just can’t cope
- Troubled and anxious
- Unsettled and panicky
- Fearful lost and alone
- Overreacting emotionally, becoming easily upset, agitated, irritable and having irrational outbursts
- Uncontrollable crying and deep sorrow
- Life seeming surreal – detached, like a bad dream
- Having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or sleeping too much
- You feel exhausted for no apparent reason
- Experience frequent distressing dreams or memories
- Not seeing family and friends as often as you would like to
- Depressed
- Lack concentration
- Work or school is not going well
- You have difficulty doing your usual activities
- Guilty and restless
- Intense anger
- Relying more and more on alcohol or drugs to get you through the day
- Your eating patterns have changed
- Life is no longer worth living
- Feeling like hurting yourself or others
If you think that you might be in crisis, seek professional help as soon as possible:
- A crisis does not last forever. It can be resolved if recognised early.
- Crisis therapy aims to intervene as soon as possible after the onset of the crisis in order to enable the individual to recover successfully without the need for longer term therapy.
- Crisis can be a turning point, if managed in a supported and effective manner it could result in personal growth and a better life.
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