“It's Overwhelming . . . Everything Seems To Be Too Much:” A Theory of Crisis for Individuals with Severe Persistent Mental Illness

Crisis in individuals with severe persistent mental illness (SPMI) is a poorly understood phenomenon for which traditional crisis models do not apply. In this study we explored the crisis experience using in-depth interviews conducted with individuals with severe persistent mental illness from two community support programs. A grounded theory of the crisis experience was developed and the results illustrate that underlying vulnerability sets …