Signs Of A Nervous Breakdown
What are the genuine signs of a nervous breakdown?
The signs of a nervous breakdown can be obvious when you know what to look for. It could be that you yourself are concerned by the prospect of suffering a nervous breakdown or you may be doing research because you fear a loved one may be displaying the signs.
Identifying the signs of a nervous breakdown is fine for identification or labelling, but just being aware of the situation will not change it. Thus, this identification stage needs to be the initial step with regard to addressing the underlying problem - however you must realise that identification alone will not fix it. In order to address the signs, symptoms and the underlying cause of a nervous breakdown it is essential to understand how to recover and also the most suitable forms of treatment.
On this website you'll find valuable, innovative information on how nervous breakdowns work and also pages dedicated to Nervous Breakdown Recovery as well as Nervous Breakdown Treatment.
Physical Signs Of A Nervous Breakdown...
Here are some common signs of a nervous breakdown to look out for. If you are concerned that you may be on the verge of (or suffering with) a nervous breakdown, it may be a good idea to get someone that knows you well to go through the list with you. It's quite possible they will see things that you've not noticed. These changes can be very subtle and tend to take place over time so it is very important to pay close attention when assessing yourself.
Posture
Has your posture changed over recent weeks or months? Remember that shifts can be very gradual over time so it is important to be perceptive in your assessment. Common things to check for are whether you are as 'upright' as normal or have you started to stoop or round your shoulders? Do you hold your head as high as you used to? Even a slight dip in this area can indicate (and contribute to) changes elsewhere.
Movement
Has your movement slowed down over recent weeks or months? This can be a sign of a nervous breakdown and/or depression. Have you noticed for arguments sake, if it takes you longer or more effort to get out of a chair? In addition to the speed of movement you should also pay attention to the characteristics of how you move. For example, when you walk has the length of your stride or the spring in your step reduced noticeably over time?
Fatigue
Do you feel excessively tired or fatigued even without strenuous exertion? This is another common sign of both an impending nervous breakdown or existing depression. Altered sleep patterns, either excessive sleep or struggling to sleep through the night because of broken sleep patterns can contribute to fatigue.
Aches & Pains
Unexplained aches and pains are a common sign and can contribute to both mental irritability and physical fatigue.
Breathing
Patterns of breathing can change gradually over time where the breath becomes more shallow, although this is rarely noticed by the sufferer until purposely brought to their attention. Shallow breathing reduces the oxygen available to the brain and muscles which can cause confusion, poor decision making and feelings of physical tiredness. Some sufferers will try to compensate by breathing faster (but still in a shallow manner) - unfortunately this practice mimics physical panic and can have the effect of making the sufferer 'feel nervous and on edge'. Changes in breathing can also affect the voice, thus if your voice has become quieter, more shallow or changed in tone it is likely that the way you breathe has become a contributory issue.
Psychological Signs Of A Nervous Breakdown...
Here we'll discuss the most common psychological signs of a nervous breakdown. Remember that you don't have to experience with ALL of the signs listed in order to be suffering with a nervous breakdown. It's also important to understand that this list contains the most 'common' signs which means you may experience some which don't appear on the list.
Relentless Internal Chatter
Do you find that the voice which talks to you inside your head has gone into overdrive? Has the voice become relentless - chattering, debating and rationalising things which six months ago wouldn't have bothered you?
Has the voice become judgemental or resigned? Does the tone of the voice sound like it's critical of you or has it changed to talk in an almost hopeless, helpless way?
Unsolicited Thoughts
What we mean by unsolicited thoughts is the type of thought you simply don't want to have (or dwell on) but your mind keeps on bringing them into your awareness. No matter how hard to try to reason, rationalise or wish them away - they keep on coming. This is a common sign in the lead up to a nervous breakdown.
Dwelling Upon An Uncertain Future
It's natural to have occasional anxiety when we face a potentially tough, important or unpleasant situation like a job interview, unfamiliar journey or dental visit. However, sometimes this can get out of hand where the sufferer focuses repeatedly on scenarios where life is unbearable or there is no perceived way out. Again this is a common sign of a pending nervous breakdown.
Social Focus
The sufferer becomes very sensitive to the perceptions, opinions and potential judgement of the people around them. Harmless passing comments can become increasingly taken as criticism and intentional attacks on the sufferer. This is because the sufferer feels down, helpless and vulnerable - thus the mind instinctively goes on the defensive. Unfortunately, this defensiveness can compromise the sufferers rational decision-making processes causing them to make poor choices.
Concentration
Due to the overwhelming onslaught of thought processes the sufferer can find it difficult to concentrate due to the constant thoughts they are trying to deal with. When the sufferer also suffers from physical fatigue the concentration problem becomes multiplied. The inability to concentrate can lead to frustration and the sufferers belief that they may be 'going mad'. A lack of concentration and the inability to focus also compromises the sufferers decision-making ability, thus they can easily reach a point where they are incapable of helping themselves in a constructive way.
Emotional Signs Of A Nervous Breakdown...
The emotions surrounding a nervous breakdown can be a real mixed bag. Whilst irritation and agitation tend to be common and sporadic in many people, a more generalised feeling is that of deep sadness and hopelessness. The following signs will help you understand what to look for in terms of emotions and the way you feel.
Guilt
When a person is suffering with depression or approaching a nervous breakdown their self-acceptance tends to take a real hit. This means that they become particularly critical of themselves, particularly with respect to what has happened in the past. The knock-on effect of this (as nobody can go back and change the past) is to feel guilty. The feelings of guilt eat away at their already diminished self-esteem which in turn makes them more self-critical... and the cycle repeats with more guilt.
Fear
The fear of never getting better weighs heavily on the minds of many nervous breakdown sufferers. As fear is such an intense emotional response the mind prioritises any thoughts which relate to it. This is why the unpleasant thought processes described in the 'psychological' section become relentless in their frequency and repetitive in nature.
Helplessness
When you live in fear, you're tired and you can't think straight it's hardly surprising that the sum total of these things leads to feelings of helplessness. Unfortunately, helplessness makes people feel useless and incapable so this can often start a cycle of self-criticism and guilt. We hope you can start to appreciate that pretty much everything we've discussed on this page works in a cycle - with one thing feeding and maintaining another.
As all the problems work together in terms of supporting and maintaining each other it is easy to understand how the cycle is self-perpetuating (self-feeding). This means that if it's just left alone without the correct treatment it will continue to run and get increasingly stronger.
What Are Your Options?
The only viable option is to get specialised help. You can chance the NHS but although it's free in a financial sense, there is still a hefty price to pay.
For most people their first step will be to see a GP. A GP is a 'general' practitioner meaning they have a little knowledge about a wide range of problems - however they are not specialists in nervous breakdowns. The best you can hope for from a GP is to leave with a prescription in your hand (which will NOT fix your problem) and if you're really lucky they may agree to refer you to a specialist.
The referral to an NHS specialist will take months - that's just the way it is unfortunately. If you're willing to wait that long the specialist will probably see you for ten minutes and refer you onto a waiting list for (outdated) NHS Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This too will take months to arrange. Are you getting the picture of how this works?
Alternatively, if you value yourself (or your loved one) and want your problem sorting out properly and quickly so you can get back to living your life - we can help you. We don't do sales pitches, however we do live in the real world, we know how the current system works and we simply tell it how it is. It's your choice as to who you work with and if you choose us we can start work on your recovery within a matter of days.
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