Living with addictions, depression and other mental health issues means we will inevitably experience difficult moments of crisis in our lives. How we respond to a crisis can determine how we will manage to get through it. We experience conflicts in our relationships, difficult matters related to our health and wellbeing, financial difficulties, and much more. Sometimes multiple crises will hit us at the same time.
Often our instinct when we are up against difficult crises is to panic, worry and be filled with anxiety. We feel overwhelmed and scared. While these feelings are totally normal and understandable, all of this fearful energy can make it harder for us to get through the difficulty. Fear can cause us to not to be able to think clearly or process our thoughts and emotions well. When we act out of fear, sometimes we make decisions that aren’t good for us. We sometimes compound the crisis with all of the additional negativity we’ve piled on top of it, creating even more difficult situations to work through.
Instead of responding with fear, let’s try to practice responding to crises by staying calm and having faith. We can tell ourselves things like, “Everything will work out for the best. I will get through this. I have faith.” As we breathe deeply and repeat affirmations like these, we can help to neutralize the anxiety rather than letting it spiral out of control, causing us to feel even more afraid and to worsen the crisis for ourselves.
Often in moments of crisis, we feel desperate to find a solution. We feel confused about the problem and what to do about it. Sometimes when we are in that place, solutions can’t come to us. Our confusion and anxiety are blocking us from being able to connect to our intuition, which will help us to find the solutions we’re looking for. One helpful practice is to try to remove yourself from the problem mentally and emotionally so that as you’re finding calm and balance, the solutions can come to you. We often don’t allow problems to resolve themselves naturally because we are trying to control things, people and outcomes. When we are able to remove ourselves from the crisis, we often are surprised with how well things work themselves out on their own. We can do this by actively redirecting our thoughts to other things and keeping ourselves from dwelling on the crisis. When difficult thoughts arise, we can channel our thoughts back to easier, less complicated subjects, which can allow the tough issues to resolve themselves as we focus on staying calm and keeping our faith.
Treatment at Riverside Recovery includes therapy to help you work through difficult issues. Call (800) 871-5440 for more information.