Individual Counseling

Mental Health Crisis

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When a friend or family member is going through a mental health crisis people usually become highly motivated to get them help. One of the great tragedies is that if the crisis passes organically, plans to get that person help tend to get abandoned. The internal monologue is something like “Wow that was scary and weird…I’m glad it’s over! Now things can get back to normal.”

One of the primary reasons for this shift in thinking is that in a time of extreme uncertainty a massive amount of anxiety is present. People try to get help to lower this anxiety. Creating a plan and carrying it out gives you a sense of direction and allows you to stay busy so that you do not have to focus on your feelings of uncertainty and dread.

Sometimes, seemingly by magic, things go back to normal on their own. The problem is that a mental health crisis is a manifestation of much deeper issues that have not gone away at all but are lying dormant. The best thing you can do for a friend or family member who is struggling with a mental illness is to encourage him or her to seek professional help both during the crisis and after it has passed.