How to recover from an emotional crisis

by with No Comment Mental health

It is not easy to go through an emotional crisis. Understanding, love, and God, is a good summary of the elements that will heal the hearts and minds of traumatized people. But they will need cooperation and support.

If you have lived through a tragic event, you should know that the strength to get up is in you. And if you have seen someone you love to suffer because of it, the strength to guide them is also in you. So, I want to guide you to healing and also teach you how to guide.

How to recover from an emotional crisis

Recovery from an emotional crisis is possible, but you will need to focus on it to find the answers you need. Here are some tips to help you heal:

Minimize exposure to memories

If you are a survivor of a natural disaster or an accident, the media may report on that case. Likewise, social media has become a space to distribute this kind of information, so try to stay away from it all, so you don’t relive those memories.

Exposure to these kinds of memories needs to be limited because it is not healthy to reminisce over and over again about a tragedy. It does not let you move forward.

Accept your feelings

You’re very like experiencing emotions that you thought you would never experience due to traumatic stress. So, try to accept all those feelings, and understand that they are normal. It is normal to feel anger, guilt, or shock.

No one has the right to judge you for the feelings you have. On the contrary, it is healthy to surround yourself with people who want to offer you unconditional support. Keep in mind that God will always be by your side, and you can talk to him for encouragement.

Start challenging your powerlessness:

To overcome, you will have to face it, so start taking positive actions that will allow you to overcome all that fear, powerlessness, and hopelessness you may feel. It may sound simple, but believe me when I tell you it will make a difference.

Some people help people who have gone through similar situations as a way to heal and gain peace of mind. Others volunteer for those in need during traumatic events. Opening that door may be scary, but once you open it, you will realize how much good it can do you.

Exercise

Exercise. It’s not a joke, it’s advice! When suffering from the kind of stress generated by these events, one way to escape is to start exercising. Being in constant motion will help burn adrenaline and release endorphins.

Your mood will improve greatly, and so will your body. Your nervous system needs to be stimulated and by doing activities like walking, running, swimming, or playing a sport, you will be doing just that. For more complete results, focus on the physical activity you do, every step, every kick, and feel more in touch with your body than ever before.

Reach out to others

A man came into the world to live in a community, that was God’s intention. That is why, in difficult times, distancing ourselves from those who care for us is not advisable. Rather, you should do the opposite and unite with those who care for us.

A traumatic event can work to bring us closer to those from whom we have distanced ourselves for one reason or another. Just the simple act of talking face to face with someone else can trigger stress-relieving hormones.

If you are afraid to talk to those people about the event, you don’t have to talk about it specifically. You can seek solace in talks that help you feel connected, or chats that are “normal.”

Six essential tools to overcome the crisis

To conclude, I would like to give you 6 very useful tools  to overcome a crisis:

#1 TIPP

Use the TIPP tool when you are close to an emotional breakdown. The name is an acronym for Temperature, Intense exercise, paced breathing, and Paired muscle relaxation.

Start by changing your body temperature by splashing water on your face. After exercising a lot, it is difficult to get upset when you are exhausted. Next is to control your breathing to decrease the emotional pain, and then relax your muscles, and let them rest.

#2 ACCEPTS

Similar to the previous tool, this is used to tolerate negative emotions until you have to face them.

You can use it by doing a healthy activity that keeps you away from negative emotions. Also doing something kind for someone else just for the joy it causes is part of this, which can help put your life in perspective.

If you feel distressed, you can invoke an opposite emotion to it. Other activities that follow in this tool include walking away from problems and replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.

#3 IMPROVE

This tool is perfect when you have no control over something but have to tolerate it. It uses imagination and meaning. In the first part, you must imagine yourself successfully dealing with the problem, and in the second one, you must find the meaning in the situations that hurt you.

Next is prayer. That’s right, prayer will serve to surrender your problems and allow you to tolerate the situation. You need to relax and let go of the past and the future. You should also encourage yourself with affirmative and positive phrases.

#4 LIST OF PROS AND CONS

If you want to make sensible decisions in difficult times, this tool will be useful. You just need to make a list of the positive and negative points of all the options you have.

When you finish, compare the options available to you. With this type of list, you will be able to control impulses.

#5 SELF-SOOTHE

The tool helps diminish the power of negative emotions. It advises you to focus on your senses to clear yourself of negative feelings.

Use your sight to focus on something, the colors on a wall, the pictures on an album. Use your ears to listen to birdsong or the flow of water.

The same will happen with your senses of taste, touch, and smell. Look for elements that are pleasant to you and put you in a good mood. Enjoy them. As a bonus, movement is included as a sixth sense. Move your body by dancing or walking.

#6 RADICAL ACCEPTANCE:

And if you will have to live an unpleasant situation that will not change, this tool is recommended. It serves to accept reality and move on.

In short, it will serve to get you to understand that even though the available options do not please you, you will have to choose one and adapt. Having distress over doing this is common and discouraging, but it will serve to control compulsive behavior.

How to deal with emotional crises in few steps

by with No Comment Mental health

Emotional crises by situations that put pressure on us will have an impact on our whole self. That is why I don’t recommend that you let it go unnoticed when you feel you can’t get through something easily. You have to keep in mind that the more serious the event, the greater the effect on you.

Emotional reactions during emotional crises

Emotional crises will awaken many reactions that are impossible to ignore. These reactions usually include physical, cognitive, and interpersonal aspects.

A breakup is not the same as the death of your partner, a vehicle accident in which there were only material losses is not the same as one in which there were serious injuries.

Emotional

Emotions will be the protagonists in crises. It is also in these moments when we will sincerely understand how powerful they are and how they define us. When you go through a crisis, you will experience emotional reactions. They ca be shock and an overwhelming feeling where you may not believe what just happened to you.

Reactions can also include emotions such as anger or irritability for having witnessed the event. The pain will be inevitable, as is the guilt for not having been able to do more. The emotions will be there throughout the recovery process, and when it comes to very serious events, these emotions will return on the anniversaries of the events.

Cognitive

With the cognitive aspect, you experience feelings such as confusion, indecision, lack of memory, and trouble concentrating. Also, memory plays a very important role in the development of these events because you will have memories accompanied by an increased heart rate or excessive sweating.

Depending on the type of event that triggered this emotional crisis, these can be a milder or more intense.

Physical

Our emotions are connected to our body. This is something I always emphasize to my patients. Everything is connected, and that is why we have physical reactions during emotional crises.

Physical reactions can include tension, headaches, or fatigue/tiredness. Body aches and pains are not uncommon, nor are considerable changes in both sleep and eating habits.

Interpersonal

Regarding interpersonal reactions, there could be reactions like distrust, withdrawal, conflict, sensitivity, or feeling rejected. Depending on the age of the person, he/she could develop problems at school or at work.

What to do after a crisis

Recovering your emotional balance and rebuilding your life after a traumatic event does not happen quickly. But it is true that taking certain attitudes will be of great help when dealing with the issue.

Basic tips

Here are some basic tips on how to act after a crisis that may help you:

  • There is no right or wrong way to feel. No one can tell you how to feel about a traumatic event. Humans do not all react to trauma the same way.
  • Feelings cannot be ignored. The more you try to hide your feelings, the longer the recovery process will take. Just because you feel it is better to wait to deal with your emotions doesn’t mean that this is the right thing to do. I can assure you that those feelings may become more intense if they are not dealt with in time.
  • Don’t obsessively relive the event. Your nervous system will feel overwhelmed if you continuously evoke the traumatic event. You will not be able to think clearly when you have it replaying over and over again. You will say that you are not able to control it, so a suggestion I give you is to keep yourself distracted by reading or cooking. Whatever activity you find rewarding.
  • Get back into your routine. Routines are comfortable and comforting. So getting back into them will help you feel a little better. Events like these may be so big that they force you to change your schedule at school or work. But you can still find a routine to apply to meals or bedtime.
  • You do not have to make important decisions at this stage: Do not put pressure on yourself by making important decisions at work, at home, or in your family. Making these types of decisions while traumatized will only cause more stress. Wait until you can think clearly enough to make the right decisions.

How to help children cope with emotional crises

Children are fragile and need our protection, and you should know that some children react immediately in a crisis, while others take much longer. Also, the signs of emotional distress are closely related to the child’s age. The same goes for the child’s previous experiences and how he or she deals with stress.

One way to know how your child will act in such a situation is how you act. That’s right, children try to imitate adults at times like these, so showing them security and calmness will give them better support.

As a parent or older figure, you need to convey reassurance and confidence. One recommendation I consistently make is to talk to children about what is happening. Understand that the age of the child will influence the amount of information you give them and how you give it to them. Simpler is better.

Later, as the event passes, it will be time to address all of their behaviors and help them cope with the consequences of what they have experienced. If the child asks questions, you have to answer them. I think it is a good idea to encourage them to talk about their fears and any doubts they may have.

 

Everything you need to know about emotional crisis

by with No Comment Mental health

We all have a different way of facing difficult situations in life. However, here is when an emotional crisis can appear. But if I have learned anything in my years of practice, it is that emotions can mark your path for better or worse. They are an essential part of our life, but understanding them is not an easy task.

Dealing with the death of a loved one, or the loss of a job or even a relationship, is not easy. This is why these situations are the ones that commonly lead to an emotional crisis.

Despite the fact that Even though God guides us every day, that He is our protection and strength, I know that it is also difficult to face life after such events. Pain frustrates us, weakens us, and prevents us from seeing the help that our Lord offers us. It is not your fault that you are blinded. You simply do not have the necessary resources to successfully face these transitions.

That is why I want to show you how you can overcome adversity, and not allow emotional crises to bring you down.

Emotional crisis: what are they, types, and stages

I would like you to keep in mind that to overcome adversity, you need to identify what adversity looks like and what causes it. Therefore, consider the following points:

What is a crisis?

A crisis is a transitory state that will affect your emotional and behavioral perception, impairing your ability to make decisions. In other words, it is a difficult situation that you will have to go through, and it will disturb your emotions. It may be that the event effects only you or on a larger scale, affecting an entire family, community, or even country.

Tragedies come with many faces. It could be the sudden death of someone you care about, or, it could be a car accident, or a hurricane. As I said, each person will respond differently, and it is that response that will outline the recovery process.

The curious thing about emotional crises is that while they are a danger for some people, for others, they are an opportunity. For example, an opportunity is when amid pain, the family unites to overcome it and becomes greater than it is. It also becomes an opportunity when solutions are sought together.

However, unfortunately, some see crises as a danger because:

  • they are paralyzed by fear,
  • their self-confidence is drained,
  • and they wait for others to solve the problem for them.

I have seen thousands of reactions to crises in my therapy sessions. I have seen thousands of reactions to crises in my therapy sessions. There are those who that even use them to reflect on life. There are also those who give up, those who look for a new purpose, those who get sick, those who take years to heal, and even those who heal quickly.

Certainly, there is no standard recovery time for crises, but if you are stuck in one, it is time to seek professional help.

Types of Emotional Crisis

Most people have gone through or will go through an emotional crisis in their lives, as within it, creation is sincere. Great challenges will be imposed on us in one way or another. So, these events will appear unexpectedly many times, confusing.

However, keep in mind that emotional crises cannot be categorized into types, but we can categorize the transitions that cause them. They can be ordered in two forms: the crises from external conditions, and the crises from internal conditions.

By external conditions, we mean crises caused by an event that is unrelated to you, for example, natural catastrophes, terrorist acts, accidents, illnesses, deceased or missing relatives. Similarly, layoffs, discrimination, and harassment are part of that list.

On the other hand, internal conditions are crises that do not depend on facts as such but subjective feelings. They have the meaning that you give them.

Such are the cases of existential crises, vocational crises, identity crises, or couple crises. There are hundreds of other forms, such as developmental crises (childhood, adolescence, old age), and spiritual crises.

The 4 stages of a crisis:

In a crisis, you will generally have to deal with four stages. These stages are the following:

  • Paralysis. The first stage of an emotional crisis usually begins with a sense of bewilderment and a feeling of not being able to reason or act. What happens in the instant is processed.
  • Uncertainty. Events that trigger emotional crises are not everyday occurrences. That is why the most common reaction is having a deep feeling of uncertainty invade you. No matter how many ideas come into your head, you will be pondering them all.
  • Intrusion. Intrusion is where you will finally accept the painful feelings, and live through and remember the tragic images. Having frequent thoughts of that event will be normal at this stage. It is a time that takes longer for certain people.
  • Elaboration and solution. In these moments, the pain is expressed in true thoughts. Although some can do it naturally, there will be those who need psychological support. In the stage of overcoming the pain, one begins to unburden oneself and reach a conclusion about what has been experienced.

The grieving process in a crisis

Curiously, understanding the origin of the word “duel” will help to better understand what it consists of. This word comes from the Latin “dolus,” meaning pain or combat between two. Researchers define grieving as a process of adaptation to reestablish family equilibrium.

On the other hand, according to Kaplan’s Treatise on Psychiatry, a normal mourning process usually consists of three stages. They are not completely linear, as it is possible to regress to one of these.

The first of these is the phase of shock and denial. In this phase, denial and bewilderment will be the predominant feelings exhibited. The second phase is that of acute distress and isolation, consisting of a mixture of suffering, anger, and difficulty resting.

Finally, there is the phase of reorganization. Here, the loss finally assimilates in all its meaning, however much it may have cost. This phase is the one that will mark the beginning of restarting life, going back to the previous roles, and starting from scratch.