Suffering from a nervous breakdown?

The signs and symptoms of a nervous or

mental breakdown

The signs and symptoms of your 'nervous breakdown' are signs that you have reached your limit, not that you're going mad!  You are just at breaking point - completely 'stressed out' and at the 'end of your tether'.

There is a limit to us all and there is a limit to how much you can cope with too.  Maybe life has just thrown too much at you and/or you resources - internal and/or external - have become depleted. You can no longer deal with all that stress.

I hope to help you make sense of what is happening to you or someone you care about. I'm aiming above all to reassure you.  By the end of this page you will know:

You may feel you are 'going crazy' right now, but you will recover. The symptoms of a nervous breakdown will disappear and you'll no longer carry the signs that you can't cope anymore.  It just won't happen overnight.

Signs and symptoms of a nervous breakdown

Maybe you have heard about someone "having a nervous breakdown" and you have asked yourself: what is a nervous breakdown?  So, let me explain...

First of all - the term 'having a nervous breakdown', 'mental breakdown' or even 'psychological breakdown'  would not normally be used by a professional.

I have used them here, because I know that thousands of people a month search for those terms as they are wondering what is a nervous breakdown is. I just want to be sure that I reach everyone who is worried about themselves or someone they love. You too may suspect that you or someone else is suffering from the symptoms of a nervous breakdown and don't know what to think or do.

A 'mental' or 'nervous breakdown' can start with the following symptoms over time or they can catch you out completely unexpectedly (though they would have been 'lurking' for some time!):

7 Common physical signs of a mental breakdown

1. irregular heart beat - you can feel your heart pounding. You're convinced you're gravely ill, yet tests are unlikely to be convincing.
2. tensed/painful muscles
3. clammy hands, sweating
4. dizziness or light-headedness
5. trembling or shaking - you may feel these are the most embarrassing symptoms of a nervous breakdown as you worry people may notice
6. upset stomach and bowel problems - your body/mind reacts as if your life is in danger and digestion is secondary to survival
7. exhaustion - all your energy is being used trying to manage/cope with this crisis

8 Mental symptoms that make you think you're going mad

1. panic, fears and phobias
2. inability to cope with stuff you wouldn't have thought about twice before
3. sexual problems - loss of libido - sex drive - female/male, impotence
4. sleep problems - not being able to fall asleep, frequently waking up and not being able to go back to sleep with racing thoughts
5. withdrawal from loved ones - my clients describe it sometimes as 'living in a bubble'
6. irritability and angry outbursts - you have no spare capacity
7. difficulty concentrating - you probably can't even read a page in a book, or even keep your mind on the headlines in a newspaper
8. depression - this is almost a 'given', when your life seems to be 'unraveling' (See my pages on depression - links further down.)

5 Typical emotional problems

1. crying easily, and seemingly endlessly, at the drop of a hat - whether you're male or female!  No need to be embarrassed.
2. feeling guilty for all kinds of reasons: 'not pulling your weight', not being there for someone else, not being your 'normal' self, etc
3. feeling alone - you're embarrassed and don't want to bother with anyone. You don't even recognise yourself.
4. feeling joyless - increasingly withdrawing from all the things you would normally enjoy - no wonder with all those symptoms!
5. being/feeling 'paranoid' - feeling that people are out to get you and single you out for every scrap of negativity.

It is not surprising that often a nervous or mental breakdown goes hand-in-hand with depression. 

Therefore I'm going to be straight with you: you're not going to get better by staying in bed, miserable and worried!  I know what can help though, but let's talk first about what people might notice: the signs of a mental breakdown.

10 Signs someone is heading for a nervous breakdown

1. difficulties focusing
2. agitation or very 'flat'
3. worrying about all kinds - if unusual for the person - a sure sign of burnout
4. difficulties concentrating
5. doesn't seem their 'normal' self
6. crying unexpectedly and/or uncontrollably
7. complaining about tiredness (lack of sleep being just one reason)
8. irritability, anger
9. withdrawal, talking less
10. appearing generally less resilient

If you are the boss, manager, partner, husband/wife of someone showing these signs of a nervous breakdown, it might help to have a discreet conversation about it.  State very gently that you have noticed that they appear to be struggling a bit and reassure them that you will do all you can to help them get over whatever it is they are suffering from (better not mention emotional or mental breakdown at this point).

5 Common causes of a nervous breakdown

You now know what the signs and symptoms of a nervous breakdown are. Looking back then you can perhaps see when you first started to feel that you were 'not your normal self'. Maybe you're now aware of how sustained stress decreased your resilience almost by stealth.

Perhaps you knew that you were pushing the limits, but thought you had no choice.

Here are the most common contributors to a nervous breakdown:

1. a sudden relationship disaster
2. separation and divorce
3. a traumatic event, perhaps a series of traumas
4. a drip-drip effect finally taking its toll (not unusual in emergency service personnel)
5. other work-related stress

Sometimes people are completely caught off guard - never having suspected that life could have come crashing down.  They, perhaps like you, would have never identified themselves as not being able to cope or prone to a 'mental breakdown'.

A 'complete' nervous breakdown?

Don't be alarmed if you...

I know it's scary, but it is all part of that breakdown. I promise you, you will get better and do all those things again in time, but you may need a bit of help to move things on a bit.

10 Signs you are suffering from panic attacks

Has your psychological breakdown led to panic attacks?

1. a pounding heart, chest pain - you may well worry about having an heart attack
2. difficulty with breathing, fearing you are going to choke
3. feelings of unreality, as if you're not of this world
4. a sense of detachment from yourself
5. fear of going crazy and 'losing your mind'
6. a terrifying fear of dying
7. constant worry about being very ill
8. feeling completely out of control
9. feeling jumpy - easily startled
10. becoming terrified of getting another panic attack, avoiding anything you think could be a trigger

We really want to calm your fear of further panic attacks as that fear becomes yet another layer to your suffering.  You can really do without that right now, as an emotional breakdown is more than enough to cope with!

If you think you're going to have a heart attack - forget it! Most likely you won't.  Neither will you faint as your blood pressure shoots up when you are stressed. People who faint do so because their blood pressure drops.

Should you be seen by a doctor?

It makes sense to have a check-up by your doctor if only to exclude a medical/physical condition.

Although nervous breakdown signs/symptoms can be very frightening indeed, it is unlikely that there is anything more serious going on than your just 'having had enough' - you are 'burned out' - you are experiencing 'stress symptoms'.

You can see from all the above, that we know about the symptoms of a nervous breakdown - you are not alone, you are not 'off your rocker', you are not 'crazy'!

Panic attacks are very common, particularly as part of a nervous or mental breakdown, and can be treated, often very quickly.

I promise you - you can recover from panic attacks, nervous breakdown or mental breakdown.  However,  if your breakdown has come as a result of substance abuse, you need to be aware that your road to recovery is going to involve dealing with your addiction(s).

You can find ways to speed up your recovery on my page: How to get over a nervous breakdown.

A note of warning

The US Food and Drug Administration has warned that certain behaviours are known to be associated with SSRI’s (certain antidepressants) including the following symptoms: anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, severe restlessness.  Any one of these symptoms is likely to make your emotional breakdown feel even worse.  So, be sure that you are well-informed before taking this kind of medication.

Instead of taking antidepressant (SSRIs) explore my pages on depression. All that advice on how to overcome depression also applies to getting over a nervous breakdown.

You will need immediate medical care if...

Why you're normal

As a counsellor I often see people who are particularly worried about their brain letting them down. In case you are too, here is a very short video clip that explains how we know that you are not alone in being terribly forgetful, ineffective, disorganised and unable to focus.

Your nervous breakdown symptoms in fact are temporary.  Your body/mind’s reaction is entirely normal under for you abnormal circumstances. I know that you will recover!

How to overcome a nervous breakdown

Just accept now that those signs and symptoms of a nervous breakdown won’t disappear overnight. Stop fighting them. It's time to look for ways to speed up your recovery.

I hope that you now know exactly what a mental breakdown is and most importantly feel motivated to take control of your recovery.

take control of your recovery.

My very best wishes for a speedy recovery from that breakdown.

Elly

Related articles

Other helpful resources

The Mechanics of a 'breakdown' - article in the American Journal of Psychiatry
T.R.A.P. - The tranquiliser awareness and recovery place