How to Help Someone Who’s Having a Mental Health Crisis
Key takeaways:
A mental health crisis is a severe flare-up of mental health symptoms that may be triggered by a stressful event. But it can occur without a clear cause.
If someone you know is experiencing a mental health breakdown and is at risk of hurting themselves or others, you may need to seek emergency help.
You can help someone navigate a mental health crisis by encouraging them to talk to a professional, contact a hotline, or attend a support group.
A mental health crisis can be scary for the person experiencing it, as well as their loved ones. If someone you know has a mental health breakdown, you may need to step in to support the person and get them the help they need.
While mental health crises can be difficult, you can help your loved one get the right care and become better equipped to manage any future crises.
What can you do when someone has a mental breakdown?
If someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, try to be present and nonjudgmental. Make it clear that you are there to listen to them and help them, and let them tell you how you can best support them. The following tips can also help during a breakdown.
Search and compare options
1. Create a safe environment
A safe environment is one where a person’s basic needs are met and support is readily available. Maintaining a safe environment is more difficult when a family member is in crisis. But this is when it’s most important.
You can cultivate a safe and supportive environment by:
Keeping stimulation minimal by avoiding loud music, bright lights, or anything else that could be stressful
Creating structure by maintaining consistent meals and bedtimes
Encouraging open dialogue among family members or roommates
Modeling assertiveness and healthy conflict resolution
Not allowing name-calling, shaming, and put-downs
You may have to adjust some of your expectations about these during a crisis. But try to keep as much consistency as you can.
If possible, remove anything that the person could use to harm themselves. Such items include:
Medications or drugs
Sharp objects such as knives, razor blades, or glass
Firearms
Belts or ropes
Read more like this
Explore these related articles, suggested for readers like you.
2. Listen
Listening lets a person know that you care about what they have to say. When someone is going through a mental health crisis, they may also be especially sensitive to your tone and body language.
If a loved one shows signs of a mental health crisis, practice listening by:
Maintaining eye contact, if culturally appropriate
Displaying an open and non-defensive posture (not crossing your arms, keeping your hands open, leaning toward them)
Allowing the person to speak without interruption
Paraphrasing back what you heard (“You’re really angry that she yelled at you and now you want to let her know.”)
Asking for clarification if needed
3. Offer help and support
After you listen to the person, ask them to tell you what would be most helpful right now. You can start a conversation with, “It seems like you are having a very hard time. How can I help?” Or, “If you ever feel like life is getting to be too much, I am here for you.”
If they are unsure what might help, you might suggest different options, like:
Offering to take responsibilities off their plate, like laundry or cooking
Doing an activity together like taking a walk or watching a movie
Helping with childcare or other caregiving responsibilities
Coordinating treatment appointments and medication refills
Staying with your loved one for longer periods of time
4. Activate their social network
Social support and feeling connected to others can help a person navigate a mental health crisis. There are many options for social support. You can encourage your loved one to:
Contact family or friends
Attend a support group
If they refuse, respect their decision. Do not reach out to their support system without their knowledge. This could break their trust in you and lead to more stress. The only exception is if they state that they have specific plans to hurt themselves or someone else (more on this below).
5. Encourage treatment
A person experiencing a mental health crisis may benefit from treatment if they are not already in it. There are many different types of treatment, including individual, group, and family therapy and medication. The type of treatment that is right for your loved one will depend on their specific condition and openness to different types of help.
As a family member or friend, you can encourage your loved to get treatment by:
Talking about mental health and treatment openly and avoiding terminology that fosters shame, like “crazy”
Offering to help them find a treatment program or provider
Offering to help them call a provider or going with them to their appointments
Making it easier for the person to get help by providing transportation, childcare, or other forms of help
Encouraging them to attend their appointments and take their medication
Praising their efforts and progress
6. Honor their experience
When supporting someone, remember that their experience is unique to them. Try to avoid the following:
Assuming that you know what they are thinking or feeling — when in doubt, ask
Telling them that they are lying or exaggerating
Being overly positive by dismissing their thoughts or feelings
Trying to force them to follow your recommendations
What is a mental breakdown?
A mental health crisis — sometimes called a mental breakdown — is a situation where a person has acute mental health symptoms that may trigger thoughts or urges to hurt themselves or others. They may also have trouble caring for themselves.
The crisis is typically brought on by a stressful event, though not always. And someone can have a mental health crisis whether they have a diagnosed mental health condition or not.
What are the warning signs of a mental health crisis?
Before a crisis occurs, you might see some warning signs in the person. Signs of a crisis or mental breakdown may include the following:
Not being able to keep up with basic tasks like maintaining proper hygiene
Becoming depressed all of a sudden
Having rapid mood swings or a sudden increase in energy
Unexpectedly becoming happy or calm even though they’ve been depressed for a while
Having a hard time staying still or needing to pace
Getting easily agitated
Showing harmful behavior toward themselves or others, including substance misuse or self-harm
Withdrawing from school, work, family, or friends
Experiencing psychosis, a loss of touch with reality where they may seem confused, have strange ideas, or hear or see things that aren’t there
Having paranoid thoughts or behaviors
When should you seek treatment for a mental breakdown?
If someone is in an acute crisis, you might need to seek immediate help. You can offer to help them contact their healthcare or mental health provider or a hotline, or take them to the hospital.
People who are experiencing thoughts of suicide can call or text contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
Some people can become a danger to themselves or others during a crisis. If you are worried about your loved one’s safety or the safety of others, you might need to contact emergency services, such as your local mental health crisis intervention team (CIT).
Not all cities and towns have CITs, but you can check with your local police department or mental health department to find out if your area has one. Call 911 if no response team is available. When you call, be sure to explain that the person is experiencing a mental health crisis. Request that officers experienced in crisis intervention and mental health be dispatched.
Most importantly, you and other supportive people should stay with the person in crisis until appropriate help is available, as long as your safety is not at risk. The presence of supportive friends and family is critical.
How do professionals treat nervous breakdowns?
Treatment for a nervous breakdown depends on how severe the person’s situation is. The goal during a crisis is to stabilize a person’s symptoms and reduce any risk of suicide or harm to themselves or others. Treatment can involve prescribing medications to address specific symptoms and providing individual, group, and family therapy.
Professionals may treat a mental health crisis in the following settings:
Emergency room
Inpatient hospital
Crisis stabilization unit
Respite care center
In-home support
Partial hospitalization program (PHP)
Intensive outpatient program (IOP)
Outpatient therapy
Crisis intervention treatment is typically brief and may end once a person’s acute symptoms have resolved. However, it is important that a person continues treatment after the crisis is over. Often this may take place in an outpatient treatment center or provider’s office. The goal of treatment is to help prevent future episodes and strengthen the person’s coping abilities.
Ideally a person in crisis will be willing to get help. If the person is a danger to themselves or others and does not consent to treatment, then they may require emergency care.
What if you are worried about someone who doesn’t want your help?
Some people don’t readily accept help. They might not recognize that a problem exists or deny the severity of the problem. Their symptoms might even cause them to be angry or hostile toward those who are trying to help them. If they are in immediate danger of harming themselves or others, or they are seriously unable to care for themselves, you might need to contact emergency services for them.
If you don’t think that they are in immediate danger, continue encouraging them to seek professional help. Sometimes people recognize that they need help, but don’t know where to start. Suggest that they talk to their healthcare provider for recommendations or offer to help them find a provider. Remember, being a supportive listener can be incredibly helpful.
What are some ways to prevent future breakdowns?
We can’t always prevent things that can trigger a mental health crisis. However, we can help our loved ones be better equipped to catch a mental breakdown early and deal with crises when they occur.
Recognize and manage symptoms
One thing you can do is learn about your friend or loved one’s condition and symptoms. You might be able to spot the emergence of symptoms before they do. Then you can support them and recommend that they get help if needed.
You can also ask them about their triggers and help them be able to notice a trigger when it’s present.
Encourage them to continue to receive treatment
After your loved one gets help for a crisis, suggest that they keep engaging in some form of treatment. It can help them avoid or better deal with a crisis in the future. As a loved one, you can also help by being available to listen and offering to provide support for treatment.
Keep supporting them
Supportive family and friends can help people with mental health conditions recognize their symptoms, spot triggers, and manage their symptoms in times of crisis. A good social support system is associated with better mental health overall.
Support groups like those offered through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) can also be helpful. These groups allow people with similar experiences to come together and support one another.
The bottom line
As a family member or friend, you play a critical role in helping a loved one during and after a mental health crisis. During a crisis, providing support, listening, and helping to connect them to resources like a crisis hotline can be beneficial. If a loved one is at risk of harming themselves or others, encourage them to seek immediate help. If they refuse, you may need to seek emergency care.
After a crisis is over, you can continue to be supportive by watching out for signs of a crisis, encouraging your loved one to receive ongoing treatment, and continuing to offer help.
Why trust our experts?
References
American Psychological Association. (2013). How to help in an emotional crisis.
American Psychological Association. (2022). Manage stress: Strengthen your support network.
Harandi, T. F., et al. (2017). The correlation of social support with mental health: A meta-analysis. Electronic Physician.
Mental Health America. (n.d.). Mental illness and the family: Finding the right mental health care for you.
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Crisis intervention team (CIT) programs.
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Getting treatment during a crisis.
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Support groups.
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2018). Navigating a mental health crisis.
Victoria State Government Department of Health. (2022). Relationships and communication. Better Health Channel.
Wang, D., et al. (2022). Crisis intervention. StatPearls.
For additional resources or to connect with mental health services in your area, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. For immediate assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or text HOME to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.
