When someone has a pattern or history of trauma in their lives, such as individuals with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, it is important to recognize that their baseline levels of stress are much higher than that of people who have not been in traumatic situations. It is very common for a person who has a high baseline level of stress to easily escalate to a state of agitation. When the person is escalated, they are in fight-or-flight mode, which makes them much more likely to have a crisis situation that involves unsafe behaviors such as verbal and/or physical aggression. Therefore, when interacting with people who are escalated, or in "crisis mode," one must know how to respond in order to prevent a dangerous incident from occurring.
- Remain calm. Take a deep breath and stay as rational and level-headed as possible. Your composure can easily be seen by your controlled facial expression and slow, fluid speech, movements, and breathing. Try not to overreact, as this may exacerbate the person's agitation.
- Do not give off aggressive cues. Avoid maintaining direct eye contact with the person, use non-confrontational body language such as standing at an angle or side-to-side with respect to the person.
- Give the escalated individual much physical space, around 3 times as much space as you would normally give someone. That way the person is less likely to feel threatened or imposed.
- Watch your communication. Do not speak quickly, harshly, or loudly. Do try to speak slowly, calmly, and with a normal pitch and tone. If they are verbally aggressive, use direct language by keeping your sentences short, simple, and easy to understand.
- Listen with empathy. Listen without interrupting or disagreeing with the person while they are speaking. Avoid sounding judgmental. Nod when they are speaking to show that you are listening and validate their feelings whenever necessary. Reflect their statements back at them to clarify your understanding of what they are telling you. Examples of this are, "I understand that you are angry because ..." or "What I am hearing is you are feeling frustrated by ..."
- Know when to stop talking. Ignore challenging questions and avoid getting into power struggles. Do not continue the conversation with an irritable person, as you may unintentionally say something to provoke them further. If needed, use closed statements that put an end to the conversation.
- Control your negative reactions. It is very easy to become defensive and argue with the escalated person, but this is counterproductive, as this will only escalate him or her further. When you respond in a similar way that the other person is behaving, this will give reason for the person to continue to act in this manner. But keeping your composure will actually help to keep both you and the other person grounded, and may help the other person to eventually calm down.
- Be very patient, but know your limits. If dealing with an escalated person gets to be too much for you to handle, it is okay to tactfully end the conversation and walk away or refer the person to speak with someone else.