A nervous breakdown occurs when a person is not capable to perform his or her role to society and self because of a nerve-racking circumstance. This usually happens when life’s demand is too much to bear physically and emotionally. This term was commonly used in the past to classify plenty of mental disorders but this has not been used in the medical world for a long time.
The term nervous breakdown is not a medical term but is commonly used in laymen’s language to depict someone literally collapsing because of some kind of anxiety. It is also not the right term to use to depict a specific mental condition. However, no matter how one sees it, this is still not considered to be healthy way to cope with stress. Thus, it leads doctors to wonder if the patient is at risk for developing mental disorders.
The symptoms of a nervous breakdown can be categorized into three namely physical, emotional and behavioral. A few of the physical symptoms are loss of memory, low libido levels, panic attacks, disrupted sleep, diarrhea or constipation. Emotional symptoms would include depression, agitation, indecision, very low self-esteem and confidence, hallucinations and even paranoia. The behavioral signs for a patient experiencing a nervous breakdown are mood swings, strong bouts of anger, bizarre behavior and to some extremes, psychosis.
The factors that incite symptoms of nervous breakdown are quite plenty but are controllable. This would include plenty of exposure to stress, prolonged episodes of extreme sadness, abuse of alcohol and /or drugs, hereditary, underlying medical conditions, getting anxious because intolerable stresses from bad circumstances, being strained for a decision, impractical demands, lingering too much about misfortunes from the past and even tremendous feelings of guilt can cause a nervous breakdown.
There is no absolute treatment for nervous breakdowns. It can be a singular treatment plan or a mixture of treatment methods. It is usually combination of drugs, behavioral therapy, counseling, emotional release, hypnosis and other modalities. It is the doctor who will determine on which combination is the right one for the patient once a diagnosis is made. But the best cure for it is prevention like sparing time for yourself and relaxing, doing your hobbies, telling people about your problems and most importantly knowing what the symptoms of nervous breakdown are.
However, the best way to prevent a nervous breakdown is by knowing what it really is. As they would say, knowledge is power and indeed it is knowing the symptoms of nervous breakdown. Best of all, you are the perfect person to comfort others with this kind of condition since you can understand what they are going through.