A crisis poses different meanings for people. Some of this has to do with our upbringing and our genetics and the environment plays a major role. Understanding how a crisis might affect one person or another might be similar to assessing pain in a patient.

Definitions of the word "crisis" as found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary are:

• the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease or fever;
• a paroxysmal attack of pain, distress, or disordered function;
• an emotionally significant...