From a Crisis to a Turning Point

Crisis situations are a state in which people have failed to resolve a problem and lives are thrown out of balance. Ways of coping with previous difficulties are no longer effective for the current problem. Most people have dealt with either minor or major problems at some point in their life. As author and clinical psychologist Gary Collins has stated in his book, Family Shock “no family is perfect and without problems and periodic crises.”

People have been created with various coping mechanisms in order to deal with problems whenever they arise. However, for whatever reasons at times the problem we may be facing is so stressful that we are pushed past the point of being stressed out.

A crisis occurs when a problem can’t be solved by the usual way we deal with them and/or our previous support system of family or friends are unable to be supportive. Our ways of coping have become “jammed” and progress is not being made.

There are basically two types of crises; situational or developmental. A situational crisis happens when something out of the blue happens, such as an accident. When a person gets a phone call that an accident has happened and a loved one is seriously injured. This is a situation that just happened that can create problems that no one was prepared to deal with.

A developmental crisis occurs when things build up over time. A marriage that has been rocky for months is soon in a crisis when one day each spouse who had a terrible day at work comes home and argument erupts. Things are said and done in anger as each let out the feelings they’ve held in over the last few months.

The pain created from a crisis situation can last up to six to eight weeks. It has been found that feelings of anxiety, exhaustion, helplessness, inadequacy, confusion, agitation, and symptoms of stress such as headaches and ulcers are related characteristics of a crisis.

The core experience of a crisis is that there is always some form of loss or threat of a loss and it rarely happens to only an individual. A crisis can have a ripple effect on others around us. A person or family who is having a crisis have been brought to a crossroad. Once a crisis has occurred only rarely will things go back to the way they used to be. A crisis can either make things get eventually better or worse. Unfortunately at times it takes a crisis situation to help some see their need for a change.

A situational crisis cannot really be stopped, because they are unpredictable. However, if one looks closely at the situations they are in and realize it is about to erupt they may be able to do something in order to prevent a developmental crisis from occurring. One of the most important things a person can offer someone going through a crisis is a sense that life does have meaning, purpose, and hope. However, in order to believe this for yourself may have to have had your own crisis situation.

Another meaning for the word crisis is a turning point. Many things can happen in our lives that could be labeled as a crisis. But, if we can strain to see them as a turning point and we never let go of hope then we will have the potential to grow and become a better person than we were before. Once we gain strength from our experiences then we will be able to offer help to those who may currently be in the midst of a crisis and needing this to become their turning point.

Originally written 2/3/99 -TRS