Everyone's life can be plagued by more or less serious or profound personal crises. Many of them are light and fleeting and will probably be forgotten or remembered with a smile. However, other crises can be very painful and leave a permanent mark on our memory. Do you want to know more about personal crises? Well keep reading!
In this Psychology-Online article we explain what are personal crises, types and how to overcome them.
Index
- What are personal crises
- Causes of personal crises
- Types of personal crises
- How to overcome a personal crisis
What are personal crises.
A personal crisis can be defined as a emotional condition characterized by experiences of uncertainty, distrust, difficulty and disorientation, which determine in a person the destabilization of the previously acquired balance. The word crisis derives from the Greek verb krino, which means "separated", and by analogy that "break" or "fracture". As the Greek etymology suggests, the crisis is a fracture within us, a crack in our self that, immersed in discomfort, loses coherence and effectiveness.
However, the crisis may also force us to improve our ability to analyze the situation in the that we are immersed or of our whole life in general, as well as help us make decisions transcendental.
Symptoms of personal crises
Life is full of both small and big challenges that we must overcome. Some of these moments of crisis can cause us anxiety, sadness, paralysis, anger or frustration, among others. most common symptoms like the ones shown below:
- Impotence.
- Confusion.
- Inability to solve even the simplest everyday problems.
- Difficulty concentrating and disorientation.
- Sensation of paralysis or blockage.
- Uncertainty, confusion and mistrust in the future, loss of motivation.
- Distress.
- Feeling overwhelmed by events.
- Relationship difficulties.
- physical symptoms.
These symptoms can appear suddenly and cause an instability of the balance reached previously. However, an existential period of crisis can also imply the possibility of change and lead to a person to gradually find a new way of relating to both her internal world and her around. In other words, a personal crisis can lead to a new psychic balance and, despite being a difficult and delicate phase, it can also represent an important evolutionary phase.
Causes of personal crises.
Personal crises can affect both men and women of any age, especially in the phases of life that represent stages of fundamental changes, such as the adolescence. At a psychological level, the causes of a crisis can be very varied, but an event will often be necessary. internal or external known as a "trigger" or precipitating factor, an event that will be the straw that breaks the glass.
The most common causes of personal crises are:
- Transfer.
- Job or professional changes.
- Deaths, separations, betrayals or emotional losses.
- Being a victim of a natural disaster.
- General dissatisfaction.
- Birth and upbringing of children.
- Accidents and diseases.
- traumas.
- Loss of a safe haven, such as theft of a home.
- A serious financial loss.
- Accumulation as the end point of a stressful period.
Types of personal crises.
What are the types of personal crises? Here are the main types of personal crises that an individual may experience:
- evolutionary crises: vary depending on age and the changes we face at each stage of life.
- accidental crises: They depend on environmental factors and are unpredictable.
- family crisis: related to the family and the couple, such as conflicts due to jealousy, routine or infidelity.
- social crisis: caused by changes in society, politicians, etc.
- health crisis: due to health problems or chronic diseases.
- Economic crisis: economic problems, job loss, migration, etc.
Stages of personal crises
In the second half of the 20th century, Erik Erikson presented one of the most popular and influential development theories. According to the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, the psychosocial development of an individual follows 8 stages, each of them characterized by a particular task or crisis to face. Each overcoming allows the passage to the next stage, so that, if the crises are not resolved, they accumulate and reappear in the later phase, sometimes until old age:
- trust vs. distrust: from 0 to 1 year.
- Autonomy vs. shame and doubt: from 1 to 3 years.
- Initiative vs. blame: from 3 to 6 years
- industriousness vs. inferiority: from 6 to 12 years old.
- Identity and response vs. identity diffusion: from 12 to 20 years old.
- Intimacy and solidarity vs. isolation: from 20 to 40 years.
- generativity vs. stagnation: from 40 to 65 years.
- Ego integrity vs. despair: from 65 years onwards.
Nowadays, the different Ericksonian stages can be too organic, since they do not specify what experiences are necessary to successfully resolve conflicts and move to the next stage satisfactory. However, the crises theorized by Erik Erikson highlight the typical existential issues of each stage of life that clash with society.
How to overcome a personal crisis.
a psychological crisis can be a transformative phase that helps the person get to know themselves better by trying to understand, reflect on, and process what is happening. Overcoming the crisis means being able to contemplate without fear and guilt the fragmentation of one's self, that is, the internal conflict. However, this process is a long process that arises as a consequence of going through a personal crisis, not because of it.
A process of crisis and renewal can occur once or several times in life and, no matter how difficult Whatever it is to react lucidly in those moments, it may be important to know how to manage it in the short term. term. For this reason, here are some tips to get out of a personal crisis:
- Find someone you trust to tell what happened and Talk about it.
- do not isolate yourself and ask for help.
- Try not to change your daily routine: in a moment of loss of balance it is advisable to anchor yourself in the known and predictable.
- In a second phase, ask yourself what can you do to solve the moment of crisis.
- Remember resources and strategies that were useful and effective in previous emotional crises.
- Take your time to find a solution, but also to experience the typical physiological emotions of existential crises.
- Try not to be too hard on yourself.
On the other hand, if the personal crisis is not resolved spontaneously within a reasonable period of time or you feel that you do not have the necessary resources to deal with it, contact a mental health professional It will undoubtedly be the most appropriate action. Sometimes, moments of crisis will require all the help possible.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to What are personal crises, types and how to overcome them, we recommend that you enter our category of Personal growth and self-help.
Bibliography
- Colardarci, L. (2022). The Psychological Crisis Comes Evolutionary Phase. Recovered from: https://www.lucacoladarci.it/la-crisi-psicologica-come-fase-evolutiva/
- Ghezani, N. (2014). Recordati di rinascere. How will I overcome the moments of crisis and transform them in the svolte of life. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Munari, V. (2019). Life has 8 phases: in some specific one I “compete” and a “crisis”. Recovered from: https://vaniamunaripsicologa.com/la-vita-ha-8-fasi-in-ognuna-uno-specifico-compito-e-una-crisi/
- Venturi, C. (2022). Momenti di Crisi: come affrontarli con l'aiuto di un therapist. Recovered from: https://www.chiaraventuri.it/momenti-di-crisi-psicologica/
