Crisis is defined as a critical time or climate for an organization in which the outcome to a decision has extreme consequences. It is defined, also as a dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life. In Psychosocial theory, this usually refers to a normal set of stresses and strains rather than to an extraordinary set of events, and it consists of a period of role experimentation and active decision making among alternative choices. To Erikson, Crisis is the turning point faced at each developmental stage.
Lexicon of Psychology - Terms, Treatments, Biographies,