Let the damsel in distress stay there

You can't save somebody.  At least, you can't save them from themselves.  Let's say you meet someone, and you're attracted to them, but they're in a crisis.  Run away.  The problem with someone being in a crisis is that if that is their condition when you meet them, then that is their condition.

Some people live from one crisis to the next.  That is their condition.  Some people are always broke.  That is their condition.  Do you ever wonder how someone could win the lottery, then be broke a few years later?  You know that one friend or co-worker you have who is always, always, broke?  That is the same person.  Their condition is being broke, and nothing, not even winning the lottery, will change that.  

We all know people who seem to just jump from one crisis to the next.  We may look at their life and think, how can they be that messed up?  It is their condition, and there is nothing you can do to change it.

If you met me while I was in some sort of personal crisis, you would never know it.  I would be working through it, solving it, and moving on with my life.  The crisis would not be such a defining part of my personality that I would tell you about it early in our relationship.  Because being in a crisis is not my condition.

This rule does not apply only to romantic relationships.  It is also true for hiring employees, picking roommates, and evaluating friendships.  I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't have any sort of a relationship with someone in crisis, but if you're going to enter into a relationship, it helps to set the correct expectations.  People typically do not change.  They remain exactly who they are, and it is your choice whether you want to allow them to be part of your life, and not to expect them to ever be any different than exactly who they are today.