Safe Reallocation of Residual Readiness in Acute Distress: A Conceptual Extension of the Natural Criticality Hypothesis of Subjective Time

In acute psychological distress, adaptive resources are often technically available yet

behaviorally inaccessible. This paper proposes a conceptual extension of the Natural

Criticality Hypothesis of Subjective Time (CLaE, 2026) to explain a recurrent clinical

asymmetry: direct demands for problem-solving or referral often fail at the very

moment they are most needed, whereas low-cost embodied acts—sitting, drinking

water, wrapping the body in warmth, speaking a few words—may sometimes reduce

urgency enough to reopen a path toward safer action. We argue that acute distress

involves not only a reduction in action-readiness density r(t), but a narrowing of

its output allocation. Residual readiness may be present but behaviorally captured

by a small set of urgent, collapse-prone trajectories. We term the redirection of

residual readiness into safer behavioral channels safe reallocation, and derive testable

predictions along with clinical and design implications for digital mental health

systems.