Each year, nearly 10 out of 100 people including adults and children, experience a mental health crisis. Some people can experience this more than once in their lifetime, while others may not.
A mental health crisis is when an individual is experiencing such poor mental health that they might inflict self harm or could harm others. They are no longer able to function properly in or carry our their daily activities and will need assistance in order to regain a healthy mental/emotional state.
Someone who regularly suffers from a mental illness (such as anxiety or depression) will not necessarily experience a mental crisis. The same is true for someone who is not diagnosed with a mental disorder. Anyone is as risk to experience a mental health crisis regardless of preexisting disorders or not.
Someone who does not have a diagnosed mental health disorder may experience a mental health crisis simply due to severe anxiety and/or stress. An emotional disturbance could be a leading cause in this scenario as well.
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What is an Example of a Mental Health Crisis?
An example of a mental health crisis is could be any of the following depending on how severe the experience is.
A Panic Attack or Severe Anxiety
When someone experiences a panic attack or severe anxiety, this is considered a mental health crisis. They will be unable to go about their daily activities and their judgement could be compromised. In some cases, people resort to self-harm when experiencing either of these.
Having a panic attack is a scary and confusing experience. It instantly interrupts anything the individual is doing. In some cases, people are hospitalized and heart issues can derive from severe panic attacks.
Personality Disorders
Thousands of people live with personality disorders. However, certain circumstances can cause the symptoms and experience to be so severe that it is considered a crisis. Someone might experience psychosis due to their disorder. This will inhibit them from being able to think clearly and they will not be able to perceive reality correctly.
When this occurs, they will be in crisis and will need immediate assistance. Experiencing hallucinations and/or delusions due to psychosis can be a dangerous experience. People could become disoriented and an accident or self harm both have a good chance to happen.
Eating Disorders
Similar to personality disorders, eating disorders can be managed at times, however, many people living with them are not working to eliminate them.
While someone might be used to it, an eating disorder is an intrusive disorder. It prevents them from achieving an optimal state of mental and emotional health. Eating disorders have the ability to endanger someone’s life which puts them in crisis as well.
Depression
When someone is severely depressed, they may go so far as to stop performing at work, quit their job, inflict self-harm or may even become suicidal. When depression gets so overbearing that it effects someone’s life in this way (or even a much more mild way) it is considered a crisis. Dealing with a depression related crisis is an intense experience.
Emotional Distress
Mental health crises are not just seen in adults. Children and teens can experience them as well. One common example of an instance where a crisis can be experienced by a child is in the event that their parents get divorced.
Sometimes this in the best interests of everyone and they parents are able to maintain a healthy relationship. This is can be a healthy experience for the child as it can show them how people can effectively interact in an otherwise tense situation.
On the other hand, if the divorce is messy and the child is caught in a stressful situation, they will most likely experience a mental health crisis. It all depends on how the situation is handled. The mental health and communication skills of the parents can make or break the situation.
Self-Harm
Often, feelings of hopelessness are so overwhelming that individuals do not see how things could ever get better. In fact, in the U.S. suicide influenced by some level of depression is 3 times more common than homicide. The power that mental illnesses such as depression can have over someone should be taken extremely seriously.
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What are the Different Types of Mental Crises?
There are three forms of crises that can apply to mental health. They are developmental, existential and substantial crises. Here is a deeper look at what each of these mean and how they relate to a mental health crisis.
Developmental
A developmental crisis is a crisis that is experienced due to some sort of development or change that is a happening in a person’s life. This could be due to self-awareness or the overall development of one’s self. They might experience a crisis due to the discomfort that growth and change often has. This could be something external such as graduating high school or moving out of your home state away from family/friends.
The mental aspect of this form of crisis could be anxiety or depression. Experiencing a new level of growth is always difficult in some way, but if the individual is not properly supported, they could find themselves in a mental health crisis.
Existential
An existential crisis refers to what someone might be experiencing on the inside in relation to their place in life, what their passion/purpose could be and what they believe in spiritually. It is basically one’s identity/who they think of themselves as.
Some people go through this when they’re getting ready to leave high school. Others are 10 years into their career and get hit with a crisis like this that completely turns their life in a new direction. Whatever the circumstance might be, implementing the right support systems is crucial to be able to navigate something like this in the best way possible.
Substantial
A substantial crisis experience is what people often think of when discussing a crisis. This is a sudden event that takes place to an individual and severely impacts them in some way. A few examples could be a house fire, a sudden death in the family, a robbery, assault or abuse.
A substantial crisis can leave an individual feeling completely lost, destroyed and hopeless. It’s so important that someone not try to brush off the trauma from an event like this. Underlying trauma tends to fester and often results in mental health disorders and/or personality disorders down the road.
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How can you tell if someone is in a Mental Health Crisis?
When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis they might be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol to cope with the pain.
A mental health crisis will vary per individual so don’t try to compare yourself or your experiences to others unless someone you know has very similar experiences, triggers or emotional health.
Take note of how they respond or are acting. Maybe they seem extremely irritable and every little thing annoys them. Emotional health issues can look like this to some extent but a crisis will be more extreme and the individual will be more reckless.
Muscle twitches and fatigue have also been known to be seen with those experiencing a mental health crisis.
How to Help Someone in a Mental Health Crisis?
There are a few different options for treatment and care that someone has when experiencing a mental health crisis. Here are the top recommendations that are commonly seen.
Mental Health First Aid
It’s safe to say that mental health first aid is effective. MHFA helps individuals in crisis or daily mental health situations (anxiety, depression, etc.) or who are potentially suicidal. Also, individuals who are trained to recognize a variety of situations, can identify if someone is abusing drugs or alcohol.
Trained individuals can effectively support those needing assistance with their addictions. By showing support and understanding, helpful resources and suggestions for treatment can be offered.
Many people receive help and start their recovery journey toward a better life much sooner than they may have if help was not received. Offering support and resources can forever change an individual’s life for the better if they chose to receive it.
Mental health first aid is so effective that it is becoming more popular and encouraged for workplaces to offer to their employees.
Check out this earlier article on mental health first aid to learn more about it.
“Talk” Therapy
Having regular therapy sessions is a great way to stay on top of your overall mental and emotional health. This can also help when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis if it fits with what the individual needs to work through the crisis.
Talking through your experiences with a professional counselor can help you unravel the intensity of your experience. It can help put things into perspective and help you come up with strategies for coping and healing.
How to Prevent a Mental Health Crisis?
Some crises cannot be avoided. As mentioned above, substantial crises are sudden unexpected events that can send someone into an immediate mental health crisis.
Other crises have the potential to be avoided in some capacity.
A Mental Health Crisis Plan
A mental health crisis plan is a customized plan that helps establish your current state of mind, what you need when you’re experiencing a crisis, the people involved in your care, any necessary treatment/medications and any other details that would be needed to support you during your crisis.
For other information including coping mechanisms, warning signs and more, check out this article on What is a Mental Health Crisis Plan?.
A Healthy Lifestyle
Implementing a healthy lifestyle is usually not enough to avoid a mental health crisis. Especially an unexpected crisis (substantial type). However, the healthier the lifestyle, the less severe mental health issues and symptoms will be.
A healthy mind starts with a healthy body. If you take care of your body, your mind is able to heal and you may be able to avoid symptoms that are often experienced with illnesses such as depression. At the very least, it will ease symptoms faster and it could be a less severe experience. If you have a mental health condition and take active measures to care for yourself, the likelihood that it escalates into a crisis can be minimized as well.
Regular Therapy
If you suffer with a mental illness of any kind, participating in regular therapy can help you avoid the escalation into a crisis. This is because a therapist can help you identify triggering factors and eliminate them.
You will also be able to discover things about yourself that you might not be aware of that can help you navigate episodes where your symptoms are more intense than usual.
Anxiety Treatment
Anxiety attacks and dealing with anxiety in general are one of several difficulties that come along with a variety of mental illnesses. Living with anxiety can put you more at risk for experiencing a mental health crisis.
Working through your triggers and emotional issues behind anxiety can help ease the symptoms. Self-awareness and working through past trauma can help ease anxiety symptoms to some extent.
Trying different programs to eliminate anxiety altogether is a great way to prevent a mental health crisis (due to anxiety) from happening. Panic Away is a program designed to eliminate the root of your anxiety to help you achieve a higher quality of life. Check it out HERE to see if it’s right for you!
Potential Medication
In some cases, medication is advised and in others, medication might be counterproductive. Talk to your doctor to see what is best for your particular situation.
A mental health crisis should be taken seriously and it’s important that proper treatment should be sought.
Anxiety attacks and dealing with anxiety in general are one of several difficulties that come along with a variety of mental illnesses. Panic Away is a program designed to eliminate the root of your anxiety to help you achieve a higher quality of life.
Check it out HERE to see if it’s right for you!
