The anatomy of crisis

Abstract

This phenomenological study deeply explores the individual and collective lived experience of a mental health crisis. A Lifeworld approach provided the entry point to deeper insights into the anatomy of crisis as the embodied emotional, physical, cognitive, and spiritual nature of crisis. Findings uncovered rich descriptions of mental health crises and how the crisis was encountered in a shattered sense of self and relational challenges in the context of receiving crisis care. Overall, the study revealed an embodied understanding of crisis that offers practical direction in providing crisis care that is more attuned to lived experience.

Keywords: Crisis; lifeworld; mental health; phenomenology; suicide.