Crisis Care Plan

In my previous post we talked about creating a self care plan and some of the benefits (and importance) of having one.  I hope you were able to come up with a couple of things and plan on actually doing them!  Your self care plan should help bring some joy into your life and give you some tools to deal with panic attacks and anxiety in general.

Today, though, I want to tackle a more difficult subject.  I want to share some info on how to create a crisis care plan and talk a bit about why it’s important to have one, some things that should be in it and provide you with some resources to get one started.

So, before we even get into what a crisis plan is or how you create one we should define what a crisis is.  Simply put, crisis occurs when someone is confronted by events which they don’t have the resources to cope with.

At one time or another you may need more help – from yourself or from others.  Even if you’re not sure what help there is, when to use it, or struggle to accept help from others, knowing that it’s there and how to access it will make it easier for you to accept that help if and when you do need it. That’s where your crisis plan comes in.  A crisis plan is to provide you with even more resources when you need them so you can stabilize and get out of crisis safely when it happens.

One of the more frequent questions about crisis plans are when to use it.  That’s a very individual question with personal answers.  If you wait until your in a state of deep despair you may not recognize the signs of crisis.  The ability to think clearly enough to recognize when you’re on your darkest moment may not come quickly enough for some of us if at all.  That’s because during crisis you’re in a state of mental and emotional despair where judgment becomes impaired.

So rather than relying on noticing how you’re feeling at any given moment to tell you when you’re in crisis there are sure signs that should be red flags and prompt you to use your crisis plan.  Most important of these are thoughts about hurting yourself or others and suicidal ideas with or without a plan.  If you are experiencing any of these types of thoughts or feelings now and you’re not talking to someone about them then you need to get help immediately.  You can call your local suicide prevention line or distress centre, 911, or go to your hospital emergency triage.  Don’t wait, and don’t suffer in silence.

Last year when I went to the hospital I had been having intrusive suicidal thoughts for many months.  Although I didn’t have any plans this should have been my warning that I needed more help and that I should have been talking to someone about them. I dangerously put off going for those several weeks and suffered needlessly in danger of harming myself because I didn’t have a good plan and didn’t recognize the signs of crisis sooner.

Aside from thoughts of harming yourself there are other signs to be aware of.  If it’s been a long time since you experienced any joy or calm relaxation, don’t have a support network to fall back on, or you are doing very little or nothing in your self care plan you may be in crisis.  Sometimes, you may just know or feel that you are in crisis, but don’t wait for this to prompt you.  We are all vulnerable to crisis.  Don’t wait until you are in a state hopeless despair before getting more help.

This is a difficult subject for some.  I know there are some of you out there that stubbornly struggle in silence on their own and refuse to seek help, especially from other people, and even more especially from total strangers.  I myself have long been guilty of this so I know exactly what that’s all about.  But there’s only so much banging your head against a brick wall you can do before things get so out of hand you become a danger to yourself or others.  Everyone has limits to their own suffering and if you’ve ever been there it’s time to build your safety net.  That’s what your crisis plan is all about.

Resources

In Person
Family doctor
Urgent care clinic
Hospital emergency
Government (US, Canada, International) and community not for profit based walk-in clinics and programs

Telephone
International Listings

Email
Samaritans

Was this helpful or have an opinion on this post?  Leave a comment and let me know how I’m doing or make a suggestion for a future post.  If you just want to vent or share something interesting go to our forum here on AnxietyGuru.net and let us know how you’re coping and anything else anxiety related you want to talk about.