The term crisis is quite broad in definition, and can be used to refer to a wide range of scenarios. One of these areas is in the human life, where people go through various types of crises which are unique in specifications. The essay below looks at the individual and familial crisis situations and how they can affect an individual.
Introduction
A crisis can be said to be a situation that is well out of control or one that makes the concerned parties to experience difficulties in trying to come up with a solution. When such situations arise, there is the need to come up with a comprehensive way through which they can be resolved. There are various kinds of crises. The essay below looks at the familial and individual crises, and how these can be resolved.
Family Crises
This is the crises that come about when people live together as a family. To be more specific, this essay addresses the crises which arise when there are elders in the family. This precipitates a family crisis as explained by Klienert et al (2009). The study indicates that when the people live together, there is a likelihood that the elderly become a burden on the rest of the family, mainly because they have special needs that need to be addressed.
There are risk factors that contribute to the risk of the crisis (Lachs, 1996). These include but are not limited to the special care needed by the elderly, especially those that need special care. The family members are financially burdened since they have to provide for the elderly and also because they have to find ways of keeping the elderly satisfied. At times, some members might be forced to sideline their jobs or social lives for the care of the elderly. This constitutes to a family crisis.
Intervention
There are various methods that are suggested to deal with this issue. First of all, the elderly can be taken to a home for the elderly, which relieves the burden for the family members, making them have a more relaxed life. However, this should be done after the whole family has agreed and consulted, so as to avoid placing additional stress on the caregivers or making the elderly feel rejected.
Family counseling is also another channel that can be employed. This is where the family makes an appointment with a counselor and is advised on how to go about a particular issue that is of interest to the entire family.
Individual Crisis
Based on the above scenario, individual crisis can occur. In line with this, James (2008) indicates that there are three factors that contribute to individual crisis, denoted by the three I’s. This is where an individual is faced by an inescapable, intolerable and interminable situation. This precipitates to a kind of desperation that can often lead to suicidal thoughts, which is referred to as risk of lethality. Hirsch et al (2009) also concurs with this idea, arguing that individual crises are often a culmination of traumatic events in an individual’s life which are hard to face, and many people feel that the only escape from the hopeless situation is through suicide.
Similarities
Looking at the two crises situations described above, it is clear that there are areas of similarity. First of all, they interrelate. Family crises can lead to individual crises while individual crises can also lead to family crises. They are interrelated in a kind of cycle, which might at times make it hard to differentiate. Nevertheless, it is clear that the two kinds of crises result from a disruption in the normal order in which issues are supposed to be handled within the family and between individuals.
An elderly individual who is fully dependent can have a general impact on the entire family since they have to provide. It also implies that the individual members of the family get into individual crises as they have to make sacrifices for the elderly. On the other hand, the elderly also falls into a crisis since they feel as a burden. The interventions employed can also have a negative impact on them, making them feel rejected or unwanted.
Differences
There is one major distinction between the two types of crises, and this is mainly in their impact. The individual crises mostly affect the individual, eating him from within. That is why there is a tendency for the individuals going through crises to commit suicide. It is mainly because the crisis is not distributed, hence can be too much for one individual to bear. On the other hand, family crises are shared among the members of the family. As such, there are various types of interventions that can be sought by the different people.
Conclusion
The essay above has looked at the family and individual crises situations, showing how there can be an interrelationship between the two. It emerges that the two mostly operate in a kind of cycle where one leads to the other. Through the use of literature, it has emerged that there are various intervention methods that can be applied in dealing with this issues. The bottom line is that the interventions employed have to deal with the issue at hand while also preventing the concerned parties from being affected negatively. It is clear that care should be practiced when dealing with these crises as the slightest misgiving can compromise the intervention process.
Refereces
Hirsch, J.K. et al. (2009). Optimistic Explanatory Style as a Moderator of the Association between Negative Life Events and Suicide Ideation. Crisis, Vol. 30(1), pp. 48-53.
James, R.K. (2008). Crisis Intervention Strategies. (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Klienert J. L. (2009). Elderly in America: A Descriptive Study of Elder Abuse Examining National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Data, 2000-2005. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, Vol. 21(4), pp. 325-345.
Lachs, S.M. (1996). Risk Factors for Reported Elder Abuse and Neglect: A Nine Year Observation Cohort Study. The Gerontologist, Vol. 37(4), pp. 469-474.
