Dr. Jameca CooperForensic Psychology Consultant, Emergence Psychological Services · Board Certified Counseling Psychologist and Forensic Psychology Consultant

What makes you crash out #crashout #stressrelief #therapist #trendingvideo #crashingout #burnouts

16 Apr 2025 · 1 min

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1:01

In this brief therapeutic explanation, Dr. Jameca Cooper defines “crashing out” as a sudden loss of functional stability that can manifest in three distinct ways. First, emotional dysregulation and burnout—when chronic work stress, exhaustion, and overwhelming obligations push a person toward increased substance use as a coping mechanism. Second, relapse—where an individual with long‑term sobriety (e.g., 10‑15 years) is exposed to triggering social contexts (like a weekend with college friends) and quickly returns to uncontrolled drinking. Third, social isolation and withdrawal—when anxiety, stress, or heightened rejection sensitivity cause a person to retreat from friends and colleagues, leading to self‑imposed isolation. The segment outlines each pathway, its triggers, and its typical behavioral outcome, providing a concise framework for clinicians to recognize and address “crash‑out” episodes.

Chapters

What is crashing out in a therapy sense? 3 different ways it can happen. One is emotional dysregulation and burnout. Maybe you get overwhelmed with work, you get real stressed, more obligations, you get exhausted, burnout, and it leads to you drinking more, substance abuse. Second way, relapse. When you think about people who are dealing with addiction issues, They could have been sober for 10, 15 years. All of a sudden they hang out for a weekend with their college friends and they're back to drinking every day uncontrollably. Third way: social isolation and withdrawal. Let's say you're used to going out, hanging around your friends, maybe your work colleagues, but all of a sudden you get this tinge of anxiety, stress, or rejection sensitivity. So then that leads to Isolation, you just getting off to yourself, not wanting to deal with anyone. 3 different ways that you can crash out in a therapeutic sense.