Red Alert

Your heart is racing, your mind won't stop. A nervous system screaming red alert. Everything feels oversized, urgent, and permanent.

I've spoken to hundreds of people in this state over my decade as a Samaritans listener.

When someone calls Samaritans, it's about giving them room to talk. Not fixing or offering advice. The focus is getting the caller through the next few minutes. The next hour. The next day. Long enough for their system to settle, so a different perspective might become possible.

Get to a steadier place. Then see what looks different from there.

The leaders I coach aren't in the same kind of crisis. But the physiology can be similar.

When under pressure, stress narrows everything. The mind races, and fear takes over. The first instinct is to move. Make a decision, solve the problem, do something. Anything but sit with the feeling.

I often bring my Samaritans training into these coaching conversations. It's about building a relationship where it's safe to slow down, stop performing, and name what's actually happening underneath.