Mental Health Crisis Plan: How to Stay Safe When Depression Worsens

When you're living with depression, knowing what to do before a mental health crisis hits can be life-saving. In this powerful and practical episode, psychotherapist Dr. Anita Sanz joins Terry to walk listeners through creating a Mental Health Crisis Plan—a personalized, written safety net to help you stay safe and supported when things start to fall apart.

This conversation continues last week’s episode on wellness planning, guiding you through the final, often neglected, phases of the WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan): identifying signs that things are getting worse, building a crisis plan, and outlining what support you’ll need during and after a crisis.

If you or someone you love lives with depression, this episode provides a concrete, compassionate, and proven tool to make the darkest moments more manageable—and maybe even survivable.

Link to WRAP Plan Template: www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/WRAP.pdf

Primary Topics Covered

• What a mental health crisis looks like and how to spot it early
• Creating a personalized crisis plan before you need it
• Who to include in your support system (and how to prepare them)
• How to communicate your needs clearly during a crisis
• Examples of specific crisis behaviors, warning signs, and support tasks
• How to build “Plan B” when Plan A fails
• Reducing shame and normalizing mental health planning
• Post-crisis strategies and recovery steps
• Why this kind of planning benefits both you and your supporters

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and Recap of Part 1
02:10 What Is a Mental Health Crisis Plan?
04:13 Identifying Signs of Worsening Depression
06:30 “Point of Possible Return” vs. Crisis Mode
08:30 Defining a Personal Mental Health Crisis
10:35 Examples of Verbal and Behavioral Crisis Cues
13:30 Choosing Supporters and Sharing Your Plan
14:53 What Help Looks Like During a Crisis
18:30 Being Specific: Matching People to Tasks
21:06 Planning for When Support Systems Fail
23:03 Giving Supporters Confidence and Clarity
26:21 Choosing Preferred Crisis Resources in Advance
28:00 Defining Post-Crisis Recovery Signs
30:50 How Long Should Support Continue After a Crisis?
33:00 Reducing Shame and Encouraging Preparedness
36:45 Involving Supporters Before a Full-Blown Crisis
38:00 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

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