HOW TO RECOVER FROM MENTAL BREAKDOWN

A nervous breakdown is a mental health crisis that occurs when a person can no longer cope with stress or pressure. Stressful life events may trigger a breakdown, but underlying mental illness may also cause it.

What is a Nervous Breakdown? 

The term nervous breakdown is not precisely a medical term, and it is not the name of a specific mental health condition. It is used to describe a mental health crisis, which may also be called a mental breakdown.

 

During this crisis, a person feels intense stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions. The person is unable to cope with stress and emotional demands, which leads to a disruption in day-to-day life and functioning.

A nervous breakdown is not a healthy way to cope with stress. What causes it can be different for every person, and the severity of the crisis also varies by individual and incident. 

It may even constitute a mental health emergency and require treatment from mental health professionals, sometimes requiring a hospital stay or residential treatment. 

A breakdown often means that there is an underlying mental illness, like an anxiety disorder, that needs to be diagnosed and treated.

There are several types of nervous breakdowns:

It is not always easy to be aware of one’s mental state, especially in the middle of a crisis like a nervous breakdown. It would be helpful if we are aware of the symptoms, to recognize them for ourselves and loved ones. The symptoms vary by person. 

Anyone going through a mental health crisis may experience a few or more of these:

• Feelings of depression, sadness, or hopelessness
• Severe anxiety
• Feeling socially isolated
• Not feeling like oneself or detached
• Hallucinations
• Emotional outbursts or extreme mood swings
• Paranoia, a sense that someone is watching or following you
• Flashbacks of troubling events
• Difficulty concentrating or thinking
• Thoughts of suicide or self-harm

Another important indicator that someone may go through a nervous breakdown is an inability to function normally. This can take one or more of several forms:

• Missing a lot of work or school, or performing poorly
• Avoiding social situations
• Not keeping up with personal hygiene
• Missing appointments or other responsibilities
• Staying home and being isolated
• Not cleaning or maintaining the home

A nervous breakdown can also cause physical symptoms. A person going through this crisis may have a panic attack, which causes extreme fear and anxiety and chest pains, tingling hands or feet, and difficulty breathing. 

A breakdown can also cause high blood pressure, dizziness, shaking, indigestion, insomnia, aches and pains, fatigue or exhaustion.

Early Warning Signs 

Several things that cause stress can as well trigger nervous breakdown. A person going through this kind of mental health crisis has reached a point of being unable to cope with stress, anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions. 

There can be signs that a breakdown may come, and recognizing them can help someone take charge, and learn better ways of coping to get back on track. 

Some potential early warning signs that a person may suffer a breakdown are:

• Functioning at work, school, or home is declining in small ways, such as a poor performance report or frequent fighting in relationships and ignoring chores.
• Unusual or new feelings of depression or anxiety
• Changes in appetite and weight
• Changes in thinking, like an unusual difficulty focusing on tasks or remembering things
• Being uncharacteristically unorganized
• Increased use of alcohol or other substance abuse to cope
• Laziness in appearance or cleanliness
• Feeling a lot of pressure
• Avoiding treatment for a mental illness
• Feeling like life is just unmanageable or feeling overwhelmed

Causes of a Nervous Breakdown 

The general cause of a nervous breakdown is stress and the inability to cope with it.

 

However, many things can lead to a breakdown in everyone. These can be external factors, like stressful or traumatic events, or they may be internal, such as depression or an anxiety disorder. 

Some examples of what may cause, trigger, or increase the risk of a nervous breakdown include:

• Increase stress or pressure at work
• Stress at home, difficulty in personal relationships
• A traumatic event, like the loss of a loved one or a physical assault, genocides, crime scenes, fatal accidents, etc.
• A big life change, like a divorce or a move
• An injury or recent diagnosis of illness
• Financial problems
• An anxiety disorder
• Major depression
• Any untreated mental illness

Sometimes the causes of a breakdown are multiple, or it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly what triggered the breakdown. It may just be mounting stress from being overly busy or it can be one defining event, like trauma. 

Everyone responds differently to difficult situations and stress, and what triggers a breakdown for one person may be something another person can cope well with.

Diagnosing and Treating a Nervous Breakdown 

There is no specific diagnosis for a nervous breakdown because it is not a medical term or a specific mental illness. 

However, when someone experiences this situation, it may be diagnosed by a psychologist or psychiatrist as a general mental health crisis or as a mental illness that underlies the crisis. 

Common diagnoses for someone who has experienced a mental breakdown are anxiety disorders, major depression, and acute stress disorder.

Treatment for a nervous breakdown may involve therapy, medication, and self-care or lifestyle changes. Working with a therapist can help someone manage negative emotions, explore the causes of those feelings, and change thoughts and behaviors minimise stress and better cope with it. 

A therapist can also teach the person healthy strategies and relaxation techniques to manage or prevent another breakdown.

Sometimes, medication may be prescribed to someone who has had a nervous breakdown. This is likely if the person is diagnosed with an underlying mental health condition. 

For instance, if the person was diagnosed with depression, antidepressant herbs may help manage the condition and prevent future breakdowns. 

For people struggling with anxiety, anti-anxiety medications may be useful.

Herbs like :

Lemon balm (tea) 

Blue velvet (tea) 

Rosemary (tea) 

Milk thistle (tea) 

Aloe Vera + Honey

Valerian

Saint John’s wort

Sage essential oil for diffuser 

Vetiver essential oil for diffuser 

All the herbs relax the nervous tension and reset the neurotransmitters for normal functions of the body. 

For more information on any of them, contact us

Other Nervous Breakdown Treatments 

Self-Care and Lifestyle

Anyone who has experienced a nervous breakdown should consider making lifestyle changes and engaging in better self-care to help eliminate and manage stress. 

For instance, a change of job, ending a stressful relationship, or cutting down on responsibilities or time-consuming activities may reduce the pressure and stress that builds up to a nervous breakdown.

Besides making those changes, a person who has not coped well with stress in the past can benefit from good self-care by doing one or more of the following:

• Socialize more with friends and family. 
• Social support is crucial for managing stress or mental breakdown. 
• Get more physical exercise, a great way to reduce stress.
• Practice relaxation techniques, like meditation, journaling, or breathing exercises
• Eat a healthy diet
• Get enough sleep every night
• Do enjoyable activities
• Spend time alone if needed
• Read the holy book suitable for your religious beliefs. 
• Avoid triggers. Stop listening to the news or engaging in activities that will make you feel tensed, comedies may help.
• Aromatherapy, soft tissue massage can all be of help. 
• If circumstances allow, you can travel for vacation, beach, mountainsides, zoo, etc., they can ease your nervous tension. 

A severe or acute nervous breakdown may become a mental health emergency that requires hospitalization or residential treatment immediately. 

This is especially true if a person is having thoughts of self-harm or suicide. A panic attack can also feel like a medical emergency with a lot of the same symptoms as a heart attack. 

It is important to get immediate help when experiencing these things or when observed by someone else. Here are some further steps to take during a mental health crisis.

If in doubt, call emergency care lines for emergency assistance

• 0909 148 1560 for LUTH 

• 0810 036 8345 Ambulance services Ikeja 

• 0803 545 5784 Society of Medical Emergency Practitioners Of Nigeria 

• Or you dial 112

• You can search for other emergency lines related to your situation and for different states in the country. 

Reach out to talk to someone, such as a close friend or family member who can help

Call a trusted doctor or therapist for advice.

Keep safe, stay calm

Mahc Natural Medicine Clinic cares