It's important to remember that even if you or a loved one is having or has had a mental breakdown, it is a temporary condition. With the right treatment, you, or your loved one, can recover and begin to heal.
Recovery from a nervous breakdown
Some restructured their lives and jobs to make them less stressful, and started therapy. People who have had treatment and therapy after a nervous breakdown often emerge more resilient and better able to cope with life than they were before.
A nervous breakdown can last from a few hours to a few weeks. If your breakdown has been going on for a while, and you need some relief, the following ten tips are for you. They will help you not only survive this difficult time, but they might even help you grow from this difficult experience.
According to recent studies, Emotional Trauma and PTSD do cause both brain and physical damage. Neuropathologists have seen overlapping effects of physical and emotional trauma upon the brain.
Long-term stress can lead to structural changes in the brain, which can affect your memory and lead to difficulty concentrating. In extreme cases, too much cortisol can even lead to memory loss. For some people, excessive stress may cause insomnia, making it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Getting regular exercise at least three times a week. Attending counseling sessions to combat stress. Avoiding drugs, alcohol, and other substances that stress the body. Sleeping for at least seven hours per night.
And the answer is yes. The brain is incredibly resilient and possesses the ability to repair itself through the process of neuroplasticity. This phenomenon is the reason why many brain injury survivors can make astounding recoveries.
Many of us have had the thought, “I feel like I'm losing my mind” at one time or another. This thought may surface in times of heightened stress, but it can also be a manifestation of a mental health condition, such as anxiety,1 panic disorder,2 or depersonalization.
In some instances of nervous breakdown, a hospital stay may be necessary for stabilization and treatment. Reasons to hospitalize a patient include talk of suicide or death, violence toward others, self-harm, symptoms of psychosis such as hallucinations and delusions, or a complete inability to function at all.
Common strategies include: receiving counseling — usually cognitive behavioral therapy, which is often called CBT. talking to a doctor about antidepressant, antianxiety, or antipsychotic medications. taking steps to reduce or resolve sources of stress, such as conflicts at home or workplace demands.
What Drugs Treat Anxiety Disorders? Antidepressants, particularly the SSRIs, may also be effective in treating many types of anxiety disorders. Other anti-anxiety medications include the benzodiazepines, such as alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin), diazepam (Valium), and lorazepam (Ativan).
You may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if you have an experience, or experiences, that you find traumatic. The development of PTSD depends on different factors. These can include things such as any history of mental illness, the severity and type of trauma and how you individually experience it.
A psychotic breakdown is any nervous breakdown that triggers symptoms of psychosis, which refers to losing touch with reality. Psychosis is more often associated with very serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, but anyone can experience these symptoms if stress becomes overwhelming, triggering a breakdown.
The normal healing and recovery process involves the body coming down out of heightened arousal. The internal alarms can turn off, the high levels of energy subside, and the body can re-set itself to a normal state of balance and equilibrium. Typically, this should occur within approximately one month of the event.
Trauma can be held in the body, leading to physical symptoms years later — such as headaches, jumpiness, chronic pain, and dissociation. When you have an overwhelming experience, your logical mind might feel “over it” before your body does.
Trauma survivors can capitalize on this plasticity to heal. A traumatized brain tends to experience excessive activation in areas related to fear, and reduced activation in "thinking" areas. Psychotherapy and mindfulness training can reduce activation in the fear center and allow for healthy emotional expression.
Nervous breakdown isn't a medical term. What some people call a nervous breakdown may indicate a mental health problem that's causing a mental health crisis and needs attention. Two examples are depression and anxiety, which can be treated by medicines, talk therapy, also called psychotherapy, or both.
A nervous breakdown is a mental health crisis rather than a diagnosable condition, but it can be just as serious and it can be very frightening. If you suffer a nervous breakdown you may feel extreme anxiety or fear, intense stress, and as if you simply can't cope with any of the emotional demands you feel.
A breakdown can last anything from a few hours to months and even years. It is also known as a mental or nervous breakdown or reaching rock bottom.
“Nervous breakdown” isn't a medical diagnosis. But, it's a type of mental or emotional health crisis. You may feel an overwhelming amount of stress, anxiety or depression.
On this page you'll find 17 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to nervous breakdown, such as: burnout, clinical depression, collapse, crack up, depression, and emotional collapse.