How to Know When Stress Becomes a Crisis

Stress is, unfortunately, unavoidable. We’ve all experienced it and gotten through it. However, everyone has a limit to their stress tolerance. When the stress is too extreme or lasts too long, it can lead to a mental health conference. 

In this article, we’ll talk about the difference between “normal” stress and a crisis level of stress as well as what to do once it reaches that level.

Understanding Your Stress Baseline

Knowing what “normal” stress looks like can help you catch crisis-levels of stress early. Non-crisis stress is 

• Situational
• Manageable
• Temporary

Things like work deadlines, financial planning, traveling, or even just running late for an appointment all cause stress. While in the moment it’s distressing, it will pass either on its own once that situation is over or with some mindfulness practices.

Even if you don’t directly identify your stressors, it’s important to understand normal stress and how you’re able to manage it.

Clinical Crisis: When Stress Gets Out Of Hand

Stress can grow and compound due to:

• Multiple stressors
• Extreme stressors like the death of a loved one, sudden financial crises, or being displaced
• Staying stressed for a long time

When you face worse stress than usual or are experiencing these extreme situations, it can lead to a mental health crisis. 

Identifying Yellow Flags

Yellow flags in this context are clues that you’re facing more than just normal stress, or that you’re heading towards a crisis.

Signs of yellow flag stress are: 

• Worsening physical symptoms of stress
• Intrusive thoughts about the stressor
• Stress management is more difficult or nearly impossible

When stress feels extreme, but you’re able to still do your job, complete household chores, and generally function like you always do, that could be a sign that you need to do something about your stress before it gets worse.

Identifying Red Flags

These red flags are signs that you are in a mental health crisis or that one is inevitable. The stress has gone beyond discomfort and into an emergency.

Some signs you’ve entered a crisis are:

• Executive dysfunction—not being able to complete basic tasks
• Substance use—self-soothing with legal or illegal substances
• Physical manifestations—constant headaches, stomach issues, or painful muscle tensions
• Mental health decline—panic attacks, depression, dissociation, or emotional dysregulation
• Burnout—complete physical, emotional, and cognitive exhaustion

Many people describe a mental health crisis as a breakdown. It can feel like even the next step is impossible. Sequoia Behavioral Health has options to help you lift that weight.

What to Do if Your Stress Has Become a Crisis

Help is available whether you’re experiencing baseline stress, you’re heading to a crisis, or you’re in one. At Sequoia, we offer different levels of care for different circumstances and levels of stress.

Residential Treatment

Residential treatment is usually the most intensive level of treatment, and is often an option for those whose stress has reached crisis levels. You’ll live and receive treatment in the same place, with 24-hour access to care. These programs typically last 30 days and include a care plan that maps out next steps in your therapy journey.

Learn more about residential treatment at Sequoia.

PHP

PHP stands for partial hospitalization program. Some people start their treatment in this program while others move into it after spending time at residential treatment. PHP includes the same comprehensive individual and group therapy that happens at residential treatment.

The difference is that PHP clients will live at their home and attend counseling for six hours per day, five days per week.

Learn more about PHP at Sequoia.

IOP

IOP stands for intensive outpatient treatment. This is usually the last step for Sequoia clients, though some people only participate in IOP.

IOP is only three hours per day, and can happen five or three days per week. Like PHP and residential treatment, IOP includes individual, small group, and psychiatric care.

Sequoia offers both in-person IOP and virtual IOP. 

Treating Severe Stress at Sequoia Behavioral Health

While you can’t completely avoid stress, you can get help to lessen its impact on you. At Sequoia, you can get through your emergencies and teach you the tools you need to manage your stress in the future.

Give us a call today if you need help getting your stress back down to a manageable level.