Developing a Crisis Plan

A crisis is an event that can lead to an unpredictable and potentially dangerous situation for an individual, group, community or whole society. In context of self-harm, the crisis mainly consists of an event or stress leading to the person either hurting themselves or thinking about it, with or without wanting to die. A crisis can occur in response to a potentially negative or challenging experience that threatens the person’s sense of self. Intense emotional pain can be triggered in response to such experiences which can lead to thinking and acting in ways in which the person may not otherwise act. A crisis plan consisting of a set of adaptive coping and distraction strategies identified in advance can offer support to young people during self-harm crisis and avert untoward consequences.