What Crisis Is

Before the protocols, let’s understand what we’re dealing with.

Two Types of Crisis

Crisis comes in two forms:

Acute crisis: A moment of overwhelming distress. Panic attack. Dissociation. Shock. Acute overwhelm. Moments where you’ve lost connection with normal functioning - something has triggered a massive stress response and you can’t regulate.

These are emergency moments. They require immediate intervention. The Emergency Grounding Sequence is for these.

Extended crisis: A period where normal functioning isn’t possible. Extended illness. Major loss. Breakdown. Situations that last days, weeks, or longer where you can’t maintain normal routines or practices.

These aren’t emergencies in the acute sense, but they require a different approach than normal life. The Crisis Minimum Protocol is for these.

Both are real. Both need protocols. They need different protocols.

What Happens in Acute Crisis

In acute crisis - panic, dissociation, acute overwhelm - several things happen in your nervous system:

1. The alarm sounds. Something triggered your threat detection system. Real threat or perceived threat, the body doesn’t distinguish. The alarm goes off.

2. Fight/flight/freeze activates. Your sympathetic nervous system surges. Adrenaline releases. Heart rate spikes. Muscles tense. You’re prepared for physical danger.

3. Higher functions go offline. When you’re running from a tiger, you don’t need to be creative or thoughtful. The brain prioritizes survival systems. Rational thinking reduces. Perspective narrows. You can’t think clearly because the thinking parts have been deprioritized.

4. Time distorts. Seconds feel like minutes. The experience feels endless. You lose track of where you are in time.

5. Connection to present reality weakens. In extreme cases, this becomes dissociation - feeling unreal, like you’re watching yourself, disconnected from your body or surroundings.

Why Normal Approaches Fail

When someone is in acute crisis, telling them to “calm down” or “just breathe” often doesn’t work. Here’s why:

The parts of the brain that would process those instructions are offline. They’ve been deprioritized in favor of survival systems. The instructions don’t land.

What DOES work: simple, physical, concrete actions that don’t require higher cognitive function. Actions that physically ground you in present reality. Actions that signal safety to the nervous system.

That’s what the Emergency Grounding Sequence provides.

What Happens in Extended Crisis

Extended crisis is different. You’re not in acute alarm, but normal function isn’t possible. Maybe:

• You’re physically ill and can’t maintain routines
• You’ve experienced major loss and are barely functioning
• Mental health has deteriorated beyond where normal practices help
• Life circumstances have become unmanageable
• You’re in survival mode for an extended period

In extended crisis, trying to maintain normal practice is often counterproductive. You can’t do your usual routine. Trying and failing adds failure to the existing crisis. You need a different approach.

The Crisis Minimum Protocol defines the absolute floor - what you maintain when everything else has to drop. Not ideal functioning. Just survival with dignity.

Today’s Practice

Reflect on your history with crisis.

• Have you experienced acute crisis (panic, dissociation, acute overwhelm)?
• Have you experienced extended crisis (periods where normal function wasn’t possible)?
• What did you do? What helped? What didn’t?
• What do you wish you had known or had available?

Write down your reflections. Understanding your own patterns with crisis helps you prepare.