Each person’s life can be plagued by more or less serious or profound personal crises. Many of them are minor 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.
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 “I break” or “fracture”. As Greek etymology suggests, crisis is a fracture within us, a crack in our self that, immersed in discomfort, loses coherence and effectiveness.
However, the crisis can also force us to improve our ability to analyze the situation in which we are immersed or our entire life in general, as well as help us make important decisions.
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 we show you below:
- Impotence.
- Confusion.
- Inability to solve even the simplest everyday problems.
- Difficulty concentrating and disorientation.
- Sensation of paralysis or blockage.
- Uncertainty, confusion and distrust in the future, loss of motivation.
- .
- Feeling overwhelmed by events.
- Relationship difficulties.
- Physical symptoms.
These symptoms can appear suddenly and cause instability of the balance previously achieved. However, an existential period of crisis can also imply the possibility of change and lead a person to gradually find a new way of relating to both their internal world and their environment. In other words, a personal crisis can lead to a new psychological 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 phases of life that represent stages of fundamental changes, such as adolescence. On a psychological level, the causes of a crisis can be very varied, but often an internal or external event known as a “trigger” or precipitating factor will be necessary, an event that will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
The most common causes of personal crises are:
- .
- Job or professional changes.
- Deaths, separations, betrayals or emotional losses.
- Being a victim of a natural disaster.
- General dissatisfaction.
- Birth and raising of children.
- Accidents and illnesses.
- Traumas.
- Loss of a safe haven, such as the theft of a home.
- A serious economic loss.
- Accumulation as the end point of a stressful period.
Types of personal crises
What are the types of personal crises? Below, we show you the main types of personal crises that an individual can experience:
- Evolutionary crises: They 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 theories of development. 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 improvement allows the passage to the next stage, so, if the crises are not resolved, they accumulate and reappear in the subsequent 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 contestation vs. identity diffusion: from 12 to 20 years old.
- Intimacy and solidarity vs. isolation: from 20 to 40 years old.
- Generativity vs. stagnation: from 40 to 65 years old.
- Ego Integrity vs. despair: from 65 years of age and older.
Today, 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 satisfactorily. However, the crises theorized by Erik Erikson highlight the existential themes typical of each stage of life that collide with society.
How to overcome a personal crisis
A psychological crisis can be a transformative phase that helps the person know themselves better as they try to understand, reflect and process what is happening. Overcoming the crisis means being able to contemplate without fear and without guilt the fragmentation of one’s own 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 thanks to it.
A process of crisis and renewal can occur once or several times in a lifetime and, no matter how difficult it may be to react lucidly at those moments, it can be important to know how to manage it in the short term. For this reason, below we show you some tips to get out of a personal crisis:
- Find a person you trust to tell what happened and Talk about it.
- Don’t 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 what is known and predictable.
- In a second phase, ask yourself what you can do to resolve the moment of crisis.
- Remember the 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 does not resolve spontaneously within a reasonable period of time or you feel that you do not have the necessary resources to face it, contacting a person will undoubtedly be the most appropriate action. Sometimes times of crisis will require all the help we can get.
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.
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Bibliography
- Coladarci, L. (2022). The Psychological Crisis Comes as an Evolutionary Phase. Recovered from: https://www.lucacoladarci.it/la-crisi-psicologica-come-fase-evolutiva/
- Ghezzani, N. (2014). Ricordati di rinascere. How will I overcome the moment of crisis and transform it in the context of life. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Munari, V. (2019). Life has 8 phases: in one specific “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 to face it with the help of a therapist. Retrieved from: https://www.chiaraventuri.it/momenti-di-crisi-psicologica/