Are You Experiencing
Emotional Distress or Crisis?
Emotional Distress or Crisis?
Are you experiencing a dramatic decline in your performance and/or changes in your personal habits, such as eating or sleeping? It may not be healthy to ignore or minimize these changes, because they could be signs that you are experiencing emotional distress or crisis. According to the American Psychological Association, the most common symptoms of emotional crisis include “neglect of personal hygiene, weight gain or loss, pronounced changes in mood, such as irritability, anger, anxiety or sadness, and withdrawal from routine activities and relationships.” Feeling emotionally overwhelmed can happen to anyone at one time or another, and can have negative repercussions for your relationships, health, studies and/or work. To move forward without feeling overwhelmed, it can be helpful to seek professional help and talk about the events that led to your extreme emotions and distress.
The Roots of Your Emotional Crisis
Emotional distress can be brought on by a number of things, each person is unique as is their experience. Some common things that can bring on this type of distress include new experiences, challenges to our belief system, being pushed outside our comfort zone, life changes etc.
Not all events or factors leading to emotional crises are negative. There are also those that can be constructive, such as a job promotion, the birth of a child, or moving to a new home. These events are life transitions that require you to adjust to new roles, tasks, and opportunities. When too many changes and experiences are happening all at once, you’re more likely to become emotionally overwhelmed.
Your ability to adjust or handle challenges may also be impaired by depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, adjustment disorder, etc. Any of these can trigger symptoms that affect your functioning or stand in the way of doing things. When you’re feeling irritable, unhappy, hopeless, scared, or even manic, how can you focus on the task at hand? These symptoms can further distract you from your goals and priorities.
The Ways Your Crisis May Manifest
Different people have different personalities and coping skills. They will also have unique responses when confronted with life difficulties. There are individuals who experience distress when there is an abrupt change in their life. For example, financial challenges, parenting difficulties, and marital issues—can become suddenly overwhelming when combined with work or health problems. You can wake up confused, not understanding the mixed feelings of anger, frustration, worry, guilt, etc. You may also feel lost, not knowing what’s causing these intense emotions.
There are also people who engage in risky or self-destructive behaviors—binging on food, oversleeping, avoiding people, or abusing substances in an unconscious effort to distract from the negative emotions. Like fighting an infection, you react to these emotions to protect yourself. Without professional help, feeling overwhelmed can push you to intensify your unhealthy habits, but risky behaviors may actually worsen your symptoms.
Whatever has caused your crisis, you are likely to perceive that your life is falling apart. You may sense that your most cherished relationships are becoming strained or your performance at school or in the workplace is deteriorating. Your health may decline, or your children may react to your crisis in ways that make your life more complicated. Before anything else gets worse, seek the right professional help to overcome your emotional crisis.
Surviving Your Emotional Crisis
The best strategy to address an emotional crisis may be to reach out to a trustworthy and qualified counselor, like those independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services — Pittsboro, NC. Taming your out-of-control thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can seem impossible when you’re struggling with an emotional crisis. Trained professionals know viable and effective techniques that can help you successfully work through your distress.
Experiencing a crisis can be scary, leaving you feeling powerless and afraid. Seeing a counselor independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services — Pittsboro, NC, may not stop the crisis right away, but you can begin to ease your negative thoughts and feel better each passing day. In time, you can feel more like yourself, eager to face changes and challenges and meet your goals. Call today to schedule an appointment.