When Emotional Crisis Hits:
The Emotional First Aid

It is approximated that emotional crisis affects one out of every four Americans, or 16 million individuals, due to life’s traumatic events and experiences. An emotional crisis is accompanied by intense emotions that can be difficult to manage. It can affect a person’s ability to think or act in an efficient, functional and rational manner. Much of life may be unpredictable, so there are many potential factors that can trigger an emotional crisis.

There will be moments of immeasurable happiness, love or success; such as marriage, birth or a job promotion. There are also times of indescribable sorrow, frustration and fear; such as death, a breakup, or illness.  Every life experience provides valuable lessons. The good times bring unforgettable memories and skills to help you get through. The tough times become an opportunity to reflect on the most important things and help deepen your sense of purpose. It is how you react when an emotional crisis hits you that can spell the difference.

Handling Emotional Emergencies

Dr. John Leach, a survival psychologist at the Lancaster University in UK, studies human performance in extreme situations.  According to Dr. Leach, only 10 to 15 percent of people

can handle a potential crisis calm and rationally.  While most people will be temporarily stunned and confused, people belonging to this small group will quickly develop priorities and develop a plan of action. If you belong to the majority, you may probably experience extreme anxiety, depression, fearfulness, and impairment in daily functioning.

Who wouldn’t be distressed and feel hopeless while in the throes of despair?  Some personal crises can become so overwhelming that they can make your mind spin with worry, resulting in emotional overload and feelings of helplessness. Sometimes it can be painful and make you feel like there’s no end to it, impelling you to think you’ll never feel happy again. The good news is there is the “art of emotional first aid” for treating damaged emotions and helping you recover more completely from your emotional injuries.

Spotting the Common Signs and Symptoms of Emotional Crisis

Seventy-five percent of the general population may experience a major life crisis at some point in their lives. Whether it involves your personal or professional life, the sudden change can lead to a wide range of symptoms and consequences, which may be both physically and emotionally debilitating.

The sheer magnitude of crisis-related pressure can result in various physical ailments; commonly comprised of headaches, joint pains, and digestive upset.  Physical symptoms, including fatigue, loss of appetite and other unexplained somatic complaints, may be your body’s way of telling you your mind is in distress. These symptoms could be a further reinforcement of the fact that you are suffering from emotional disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and mood disorders.

The emotional symptoms can cripple you from performing normal activities and hinder life from moving along smoothly. The distressful feelings can instill fear, self-doubt, and irrational paranoia that can make you withdraw from the world or seek support from others. Due to the severity of the emotional symptoms, allowing them to go untreated may impact relationships and contribute to poor life decisions, loss of motivation, and self-harming behavior.

An emotional crisis can also inflict a significant impact in your social life. You may shun activities that previously gave you pleasure, like going to movies or having fun with friends.  If you would rather stay at home than accept social invitations because you fear certain places or events, it may be an indication that anxiety is looming in your life.

The overwhelming consequences are indeed unfortunate.  Even if you do not see the signs in yourself, people around you may be frequently telling you about the significant changes in your mood or temper.  The telltale symptoms may be obvious in your sleeping and eating patterns, behavior, or performance. These examples highlight the importance of seeking early professional intervention to help break the unhappy cycle before they become an emergency situation.

Resiliency in the Face of Emotional Crises

If you are experiencing an emotional emergency, you may be wondering if you are ever going to get through or if you are going to feel upset for an indefinite period of time.  Whatever the nature of your emotional crisis, the first instinct is to reach out for help from family members and friends.  Maybe you need them to do something for you when you are too depressed to get out of bed.  Or maybe you just need to call them in the middle of the night so you can talk about what’s on your mind.  Or maybe you just want someone to give you a hug and offer a shoulder to cry on.

Reaching out for help is necessary, but the help provided by your chain of support may not be sufficient. While family and friends have an important role in providing effective emotional support when you are feeling down or experiencing difficulties, they may not be able to extend the right kind of help to facilitate resilience or accept certain changes in your life. Instead of hearing what you need to hear, you may end up feeling worse than before. Support functions are only effective if they match the need.

Experts believe that humans can restore their physical and emotional selves.  Not only does your physical strength improve when your adrenaline rises, but you have also an extraordinary amount of reserved emotional strength. It means there is hope for you to recover even from the most traumatic life crisis that caused your emotional issues.  When you become too fragile in the face of extreme life events, consider the benefits of going to counseling to help you become more resilient and emotionally stronger than you think.

Help From The Right Source

No matter who you are, an emotional crisis can throw you off-kilter. Whether it is caused by your spouse, children, parents, boss, health, or a natural calamity; an emotional crisis may make you feel misunderstood, leading you to isolation, low self-esteem, and distress. It can make you hunker down or hesitate to ask for help even from family members or friends who can be relied on for support.

Like treating a physical injury, such as cuts or scrapes, an emotional injury also calls for first aid treatment to reduce the pain, and prevent it from becoming “infected” or getting worse, and to accelerate the healing process. Treating emotional injuries as soon as they occur can prevent them from becoming a full-blown “wound.”

Did you know that help is available from the right source?  When it comes to getting help in regaining your emotional wellbeing, professional counseling is the best way to fully address the symptoms wrought by an emotional crisis and get the issue under control.  All you need to do is connect with Carolina Counseling Services – Sanford, NC.  You will be matched with the right fit crisis therapist independently contracted with CCS – Sanford, NC. Call to set up your first appointment.

Related Articles: