The main goal of the crisis plan is to learn to track the approach of a crisis and either to prevent it or reduce its consequences in different ways.
A little more about this crisis plan:
- It is universal. Every person has his own concept of crisis: for someone, a crisis is a suicidal mood, for others, it is a desire to get drunk, eat, do self-harm or make yourself ill in any other way. This plan fits all this. You can even make several options for different crisis situations;
- It really works. The fact that you have a plan of action in case of something bad can already bring at least some sense of stability and confidence. And if something bad really happens, you will not feel completely helpless and unprepared.
How to make your own crisis plan and how to work with it? Let’s find it out together with My Canadian Pharmacy. The very first thing to do is to realize that crises can be dealt with. Self-destructive behavior can be controlled, you can move away from thoughts about self-harm, you can control the use of alcohol. The second is to firmly decide for yourself that you need it and want to do something even if this is not an easy path, and start making a plan.
How to Make Up a Crisis Plan?
Our crisis plan will consist of 7 steps: let’s review them step by step:
Step 1. Signals warning about the approaching crisis (thoughts, images, situation, behavior)
What precedes this desire? Sometimes, the crisis is preceded by a heart-rending feeling of inner emptiness and meaninglessness. Many people are driven to self-affirmation by memories of the past, images of something unpleasant from the past, or situations for which they want to “punish” themselves. Write it all down. Speak this connection “thought / image / situation” – “crisis”. This is your way to understanding yourself, your reactions and feelings.
Step 2. Internal strategies – what can I do to get distracted without resorting to outside help?
What can make you feel a little better? Viewing old cartoons, dancing? Is there something else that may even be strange and stupid, but it helps? The main thing is not to include alcohol, drugs, gambling and any other destructive actions in this item. Yes, if you drink, at first you will not think about self-harm but then it will lead to new problems and, possibly, to a new desire to hurt yourself.
Step 3. People and social situations that can distract me
Who can you talk to make it easier for you? It’s not necessary to talk about your problems, you can just talk about something — exchange jokes, send strange videos to each other. Or you can be distracted by a walk, a hike to a cafe, or a chat in the comments on some forum. Recall everyone and everything that once made you feel better.
Step 4. People who I can ask for help
Here we are talking specifically about those to whom you can say: “I feel bad now, listen to me / help me, please”. Your partner, boyfriend/girlfriend, good friends, or perhaps someone you met in the support group – specify at least one reliable person at this point whom you can actually ask for help without fear of rejection.
Step 5. Specialists and organizations I can contact
Who can you specify here? If you have a psychotherapist/psychologist/ psychiatrist – mention them first of all. You can specify the phone number of the nearest emergency department, psychological support hotline or any other organization you are ready to contact. The main thing is to know that if you need help, you can call your doctor, the hospital, or a helpline.
Step 6. How to make the environment safer?
What can you do to make you more safe and comfortable? Close the curtains? Hide blades? Put the pills in the far box? Turn off the computer and phone? Change into pajamas? Point here something that will help you. One our client has “not to leave the apartment” at this point (because it is easy to get to the roof in his house) and “to hide the blades, the pills and the cigarettes” (because he can hurt himself with all this). Of course, he can find it all again and get it, but the point is not even that – the point is that he speaks to himself: “No, I will not cut my hands, the blade lies far away, I removed it, I will not touch it”. This is very important. If the desire to harm yourself remains in spite of a safe environment – go back to the previous steps.
Step 7. What or who is worth living for?
The last point, perhaps, is the most difficult. Do you have a cat or a dog? Unfinished drawings? Unfinished poems? Favorite singing club on Mondays? Or just yourself, or hope of recovery, or a trip to the sea in the summer? It may work. Think of something that is important to you, even if it may sound like something nonsense. The more options you specify, the better, but one will do as well.
It’s ok if you have fewer steps in your crisis plan, or, on the contrary, more. What to do next with this plan? Have it at hand. You can print and make copies, if you prefer a paper format, and put it in a backpack, on a table, by the bed, somewhere else. It is important that you really have it at hand in a crisis situation.
Sirius Project wishes you to have as few crisis situations as possible!