I’m in an Emotional Crisis, What’s next?

by Rose Marie Quintos

Everyone experiences different stressful events in their own way. People devise their own coping mechanisms to maintain a comfortable emotional balance.

Emotional crisis is a threat associated with the meaning of life, important values, or in confrontation with important life problems. It causes a temporary, periodic disturbance of mental balance. It is a state of feeling or an internal sensation of confusion and anxiety such that previously effective coping mechanisms fail us and are replaced with inadequate decisions and behaviors.

The way that we live our lives and the choices that we make are what lead us to where we are, and often these choices are what dictate how happy or sad we tend to be. …it is not the events or even the people in our lives that dictate our happiness, but rather our internal state.

–Personal Reconstruction by P. Tarlow, T. Marrs, N. Tarlow & E. Leite.

 

Correspondingly, a person in crisis may feel confused, anxious, helpless, hopeless, afraid, and vulnerable. The crisis can be caused by the unexpected death of a loved one, hearing distressing news, or being triggered by a traumatic event or memory.

However, a person should not remain in a state of crisis indefinitely. Scientifically, the body can’t stand the physical and emotional strain permanently. We cannot appease the situation that stresses us all the time. From time to time, we will resort to different ways to cope or solve the problem that strains us. So what else can we do to deal with an emotional crisis?

Social Promotion Foundation (FPS) suggested two techniques to self-manage emotional crisis.These are the following:

1. “Come back” technique. When you find yourself worrying, or feeling inadequate, just simply say to yourself, “come back.” Next, take a deep breath and focus on where you are right now and what you are doing.

 

2. Calm breathing techiniques. There are many ways to cope when you feel a sudden rush of anger or anxiety:

a. Breathe in slowly through your nose, focusing on your lower belly (for about four seconds).
b. Hold your breath for a moment or two.
c. Exhale gently and quietly through your mouth (for about four seconds).
d. Use your stomach instead of your chest to breathe.
e. Before taking a second breath, pause for a moment.
f. Tell yourself that, although the situation is threatening or irritating, responding irrationally or angrily won’t make things better.

An emotional crisis can overwhelm you and make it difficult to go about your normal activities. Common treatments include recognizing triggers and using stress-reduction methods, such as the technique mentioned above.

Talking to family, friends, and a therapist or counselor can help people discover emotional distress triggers and come up with alternate coping mechanisms because emotional distress triggers are not always visible.

Nonetheless, just like other crises, personal or emotional crises can be avoided. To help you with this, Personal Reconstruction is the book and tool for rebuilding your life after a personal crisis or crash.

WAYS TO AVOID A CRISIS

(From Personal Reconstruction )

1. Live your own life, not one comparing yourself to the accomplishments of others.
2. Don’t seek or rely on external validation.
3. Follow your own path when you can. (Don’t try to please everyone.)
4. Look for positive people and positive thoughts.
5. Dare to try new things.
6. Avoid worrying about the past or future. Focus on the present.
7. Think about the kind of person you want to be, and take steps in that direction.
8. Avoid taking things personally. Most things that seem directed at you are not.
9. Don’t worry about little things.(And almost everything is a little thing.)
10. Accept the kindness of others.
11. Extend kindness to others.

Additionally, during this COVID-19 pandemic, most people faced emotional and mental health challenges. Surveys reveal a significant rise in the number of people reporting stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia during the pandemic, compared to pre-pandemic levels. In an effort to deal with their anxieties about the pandemic, some people have increased their usage of alcohol or narcotics.

… perhaps the number one health threat during a pandemic is losing a sense of self.

– Personal Resilience  by Peter Tarlow & Severine Obertelli

Crises are both an opportunity and a danger: an opportunity as it pushes us to develop new coping skills;however, it becomes dangerous when we are overwhelmed with anxiety, pain, and experience it in a negative light. Hence, good mental and emotional health are described as the outcome of successful crisis resolutions.

Now we are well into an age of pandemics, and more than personal reconstruction is needed. In this new era we need a sense of resiliency, an ability as the old Timex watch commercial used to say,

 “to keep on ticking” no matter what the world throws at us.

– Personal Resilience  by Peter Tarlow & Severine Obertelli

Rose Marie Quintos is a Publishing Assistant and the Marketing Director for Quest Publishing,a division of the Inquesta Corporation. (She can be reached at rquintos@inquesta.com.)