Guide from erstmalreden.de
What is a crisis?
A crisis does not automatically mean a diagnosis (A professional assessment by a qualified person. You do not always need a diagnosis before asking for help.). Often it means: something is so stressful, uncertain, or dangerous right now that you should not stay alone with it.
First orientation
In short
- What this page is about
- What a crisis can mean, which warning signs matter, and when urgent help matters more than searching further.
- This may fit if
- you are unsure whether this is already a crisis or still strain.
- Looking for something else?
- If there is immediate danger now, do not classify first; use urgent help.
- If you do just one thing
- Check: am I or is someone else safe right now?
A crisis can look different
Some people cry a lot, others keep functioning on the outside. Some hardly sleep, panic, feel empty, withdraw, or feel cut off inside. What matters is not how bad it looks from outside, but whether you feel safe and able to act.
Common features
A crisis is often unexpected, uncertain, threatening, or demands change. It can feel as if your usual ways no longer work. Then it helps to make the situation smaller: What is dangerous now? What can wait until tomorrow? Who can be involved today?
Many warning signs are played down
Thoughts like "I am overreacting", "others have it worse", or "I have to prove it is bad enough" are common. Still, you may seek help if sleep, daily life, work, school, eating, relationships, or safety are affected.
When urgent help matters
If you are in immediate danger, might harm yourself, someone else is at risk, or you cannot safely stay alone, this is not the moment for long searching. Real help matters: 112 in Germany for immediate danger, TelefonSeelsorge 116 123, or a nearby person who stays with you now.
Updated: July 4, 2026 · Sources checked: July 4, 2026
Sources and notes
What you can do now
If you only wanted information
This guide may fit as a next step: What happens if I call 112 or 116117?
Open articleIf you want to try first contact
Use the sentence helper or copy one short sentence. First contact does not have to be perfect.
Prepare a sentenceIf it has become urgent
Then reading more is not the priority. Open urgent help or call 112 in Germany if there is immediate danger.
Open urgent help- Check: am I or is someone else safe right now?
- Involve a real person.
- Use 112 in immediate danger in Germany.
This page offers orientation and words for first contact. If you need counseling, therapy, or emergency help, real contact points matter.