Personal Crisis Triage Protocol

A decision-making framework for the first 24-72 hours of a personal crisis — job loss, relationship breakdown, health diagnosis, financial shock, or death of a loved one — when emotional overwhelm impairs normal decision-making. The protocol: (1) STOP — Do not make any major decisions for 24 hours. The brain in crisis mode is biased toward fight-or-flight responses that feel urgent but are rarely optimal. (2) SECURE — Address only immediate safety and basic needs: Do you have a safe place to sleep tonight? Can you eat? Are you physically safe? Is anyone in danger? Handle these and nothing else. (3) SUPPORT — Contact one trusted person. Don't try to handle it alone. The call doesn't need to be articulate — 'Something happened and I need support' is sufficient. (4) STABILIZE — Within 48 hours, identify the 1-3 decisions that genuinely cannot wait and address only those. Everything else goes on a 'Decide Later' list. (5) SIMPLIFY — Cancel or postpone all non-essential commitments for the next 1-2 weeks. Create space to process and respond rather than react. Key principle: In crisis, your only job is to get to tomorrow in reasonable shape. Everything else can wait.

When to use it

In the first 24-72 hours of any significant personal crisis: job loss, divorce, serious health diagnosis, financial emergency, death of someone close, being arrested or sued, discovering betrayal, house fire, or any event that shatters your normal routine and emotional baseline.

How it can help

Provides a protocol for the exact moments when your normal decision-making capacity is most impaired and the consequences of bad decisions are highest. The '24-hour no major decisions' rule prevents the most common crisis errors: quitting a job in rage, sending an angry email, making a financial move in panic, or making a permanent relationship decision in a temporary emotional state. The 'Decide Later' list is deceptively powerful — it gives the anxious brain permission to stop problem-solving everything simultaneously.