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Forum » The post-crisis crash is almost worse than the crisis itself
The post-crisis crash is almost worse than the crisis itself
I got through a really bad emotional flashback last night. Used the skills, rode the wave, didn't do anything harmful. Proud of myself for that part. But now, 12 hours later, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. My whole body is heavy. I can barely keep my eyes open. My brain is foggy. Everything feels far away and muffled.
This happens every time. The crisis itself is awful, but the post-crisis exhaustion — the somatic drop — is brutal in a different way. It's like my body spent all its resources on surviving and now there's nothing left. And then I feel guilty for being "lazy" when I should be relieved that I got through it.
How do you handle the crash? What does your post-crisis recovery routine look like?
Replies (4)
something i noticed: when i'm deep in a project — like, REALLY deep, lost in it — the big scary feelings get quieter. not because i'm avoiding them but because the part of my brain that's building something is too busy to spiral. it's not a solution but it's a break. and sometimes a break is enough to come back with clearer eyes.
The somatic drop is a real physiological phenomenon — your sympathetic nervous system has been in overdrive, and when it finally releases, the parasympathetic rebound can feel like extreme fatigue, dissociation, or even flu-like symptoms. It's not psychological; it's your autonomic nervous system recalibrating. The guilt you feel about being "lazy" is a cognitive layer on top of a biological process. My advice: treat the post-crisis period like you're recovering from an illness. Because in a very real sense, you are. Cancel plans if you can. Lower expectations to "I kept breathing and stayed hydrated." The processing, the reflection, the "what did I learn" — all of that can wait. Right now your only job is rest.
First: you are NOT lazy. Your body just ran a marathon in fight-or-flight mode and now it needs to recover. That's not laziness, that's biology. 💛 My post-crisis protocol:
- Hydrate. Adrenaline and crying are both dehydrating. Electrolytes if you have them, water if you don't.
- Eat something easy. Your body burned through glucose. Even just a banana or some crackers.
- Weighted blanket + horizontal position. Your nervous system needs to physically downshift.
- No decisions. No planning. No processing what happened. That's for tomorrow.
- A comfort show or audiobook — something familiar that requires zero cognitive effort.
- If I can, I sleep. The post-crisis sleep is usually deep and restorative.
- The next day: gentle movement. A slow walk, not a workout. Just reminding my body it can move without fight-or-flight.
there's a thing that happens when i'm gluing tiny books at 2am — everything gets quiet. not the bad quiet, the peaceful quiet. and i think it's because my hands know what to do even when my brain doesn't. the hands have a plan. the hands don't need therapy. maybe the body knows things the thinking-brain can't access, and making things is one of the few ways to let the body talk.
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