Helping Someone Navigate a Mental Health Crisis
This graphic from NAMI points out some warning signs of a mental health crisis and offers a few tips on what to do during a crisis. Additional information from the NAMI Massachusetts website offers deeper insight and suggestions. Listening is important.
Insight from NAMI MA “If Someone You Support is Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis”
Know When It’s a Crisis
A mental health crisis is when someone is experiencing symptoms that make them feel out of control or prevent them from being able to care for themselves. It can look very different for different people. For example thinking about suicide, hearing voices, or having unusual thoughts can be part of a mental health crisis for some people, but other people are able to manage these experiences. Try to rely on the wisdom of the person you are supporting and how they interpret what they are experiencing.
Offer Support
It’s natural to feel scared or overwhelmed when someone you love is experiencing a mental health crisis. It can be hard to know what to do. Here are some general things to keep in mind…
Keep calm and avoid over-reacting. Also try to avoid centering your own experience.
Offer to listen, then listen without judgment. Avoid making assumptions about their experience. If you don’t understand something they said, gently ask what they mean. You can offer the person validation with what they’re feeling, and try not to minimize it.
Respect if they don’t want to talk. It can be hard to open up about what you’re experiencing. Offer just to sit with them.
Know that most people are looking for support, and not advice. Understand that your role is to support the person and not to “fix” them.
Avoid deciding what’s best for them, making decisions on their behalf, or pressuring them to do or not do something. Ask the person what would be helpful, instead, then do that.
Encourage self-care and taking care of basic needs. You can ask having something to eat or drink would be helpful.
Admit when you don’t know what to say. It’s okay to just spend time with someone and be present.
If the person you’re supporting is perceiving things that you do not, it’s generally not helpful to say that they’re wrong (unless the person has told you that reality-checking with you is something they find helpful). Understand that the experience is real for them. You don’t need to pretend to experience what they are, but you can validate the pain, anger, fear, or other emotion that they are feeling.
For some people, talking will help them move through the crisis. Other people may need more support. With the person’s consent, you can offer to help them find the support that will work for them.
Help the Person get More Support, if They Want it
With the person’s consent, you can offer to help them find the support that will work for them. Here are some potential support options…
Getting peer support, if talking to someone who “gets it” would be helpful. There are many options for getting peer support in a group and for one-on-one peer support.
Using a crisis call, text, or chat service. They can provide support and resources to people who are experiencing a crisis.
Talking to their mental health provider, if they are already getting care from someone. Many mental health practices offer urgent care for their patients, either with the patient’s provider or another provider.
Getting support from a community crisis response team, if there’s one in their community. Community crisis response teams are staffed by trained non-police responders. They offer emotional support, resource connection, and more.
Use a peer-led crisis program. Peer-led crisis programs offer short-term support – a few hours to a few days – in a non-clinical, home-like environment and serve as an alternative to clinical treatment options like community crisis stabilization programs and inpatient hospitalization.
Get support from urgent care or the local Mobile Crisis Intervention (MCI) team. Behavioral health urgent care is designed to provide people with easier access to care, with same-day or next day evaluation and referrals to further treatment. Mobile Crisis Intervention (MCI) teams are based at local Community Behavioral Health Centers (CBHCs) and are staffed by mental health clinicians and peer supporters. They can talk to people who feel they are in or near crisis, and try to help them find the support they need to manage the crisis.
Going to the local Emergency Department, when other options are not available, or the crisis involves a medical emergency. Know that the care options that can be offered in the emergency department are often more limited than what an MCI can offer, and the ability to choose the care that they think will work best for them may be limited.
Try to avoid calling 9-1-1 if possible, when it is not a medical emergency or there is no danger of immediate harm. If you do decide to call 9-1-1, you can tell the dispatcher that you are calling about someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis.
Crisis and Urgent Care Contacts
Turn to the Crisis page of our NAMI Central Middlesex website for national and Massachusetts based crisis support options: namicentralmiddlesex.org/crisis. Remember 988, the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Helpline, and the Community Behavioral Health Centers in our state.
Preparing for Crisis
In the February edition of this newsletter we’ll outline how to prepare for a potential future crisis by creating a Crisis/Safety Plan. A template to follow will be included.