Is it different for everyone? Is there some standard definition?
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Hi lmpnelp,
Welcome to the forums! I'm not sure that there is a standard definition for mental breakdown, but I think you could safely define it as having emotional problems so difficult that you are not capable of functioning in a normal manner such as self-care, house-keeping, and working (or attending school if you're a studendt) to the point that you need to really reduce your activity level in order to get better. There's a pretty broad range within that, so they can look very different for different people. Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions if that didn't answer your question.
AG
Welcome to the forums! I'm not sure that there is a standard definition for mental breakdown, but I think you could safely define it as having emotional problems so difficult that you are not capable of functioning in a normal manner such as self-care, house-keeping, and working (or attending school if you're a studendt) to the point that you need to really reduce your activity level in order to get better. There's a pretty broad range within that, so they can look very different for different people. Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions if that didn't answer your question.
AG
I think it probably looks different for everybody. For me, (and I have never been labeled as technically having had a breakdown), I simply stopped leaving my house and then that turned into me not leaving bed other than for the obvious reasons. I spent about 4 months in bed. I told people I was out of town to avoid having to see people. I stopped cleaning. Stopped bathing more than a couple times a week. Stopped doing my hair and makeup. I just stopped functioning.
impnelp. interesting question. i have asked every t i have seen...'what is happening to me??' and i really haven't gotten a satisfactory or consistant answer.
but, this must be a mental/nervous breakdown.
i think 'it' is when the understuff in your mind, the unconsciuos conflict, rises to such a point that the tension produces anxiety/depression that rise to a level where it seriously impacts your ability to function.
and that looks different on everyone. for some, as people have said, they can't get out of bed. or bath, etc. for me, i HAD to do all that, as i have kids and wanted as best i could to keep this 'hidden' from them. so, i got up, bathed, ran carpool most days...hubby helped when needed, got dinner together half as often as i has, and wiped everything else off my plate. i had unnerving anxiety, took alot of meds for that. sleeping pills to get the sleep. but i could not communicate with others, i was EXTREMELY paranoid, dependent on therapy, obsessed and in my head all the time, dissociative daily, fearful. emotions were /are very volital. i still don't quite know who i am.
i think this happens when a major thing changes (for me, realizing the fantasy i had held about my childhood being good, this fantasy suddenly revealed some truths about csa, emotional/psychological abuse/neglect...and suddenly, the platform i had built my life upon vanished...and left me spinning through the air not sure where to land)
this has been the most bizarre life experience. my whole core is changing. reality is replacing fantasy, slowly. the world looks different. very disorienting.
so, i ramble, but THAT is what it is for me. and i think alot of people...facing and dealing with the things one's mind had pushed to the unconscious that, for whatever reason, are no longer able to stay repressed. as to a standard definition? i guess that would be a DSM definition, and i don't think there is one. major depression with anxiety? that doesn't quite capture it to me.
good luck with you if you feel that coming on. it is scary, disorienting, but, i hear, there is an end. for me, it has been 18 months, and i expect another 6 months to a year before i really land.
get a good t, and hold on! it will end!! xxoo, jill
but, this must be a mental/nervous breakdown.
i think 'it' is when the understuff in your mind, the unconsciuos conflict, rises to such a point that the tension produces anxiety/depression that rise to a level where it seriously impacts your ability to function.
and that looks different on everyone. for some, as people have said, they can't get out of bed. or bath, etc. for me, i HAD to do all that, as i have kids and wanted as best i could to keep this 'hidden' from them. so, i got up, bathed, ran carpool most days...hubby helped when needed, got dinner together half as often as i has, and wiped everything else off my plate. i had unnerving anxiety, took alot of meds for that. sleeping pills to get the sleep. but i could not communicate with others, i was EXTREMELY paranoid, dependent on therapy, obsessed and in my head all the time, dissociative daily, fearful. emotions were /are very volital. i still don't quite know who i am.
i think this happens when a major thing changes (for me, realizing the fantasy i had held about my childhood being good, this fantasy suddenly revealed some truths about csa, emotional/psychological abuse/neglect...and suddenly, the platform i had built my life upon vanished...and left me spinning through the air not sure where to land)
this has been the most bizarre life experience. my whole core is changing. reality is replacing fantasy, slowly. the world looks different. very disorienting.
so, i ramble, but THAT is what it is for me. and i think alot of people...facing and dealing with the things one's mind had pushed to the unconscious that, for whatever reason, are no longer able to stay repressed. as to a standard definition? i guess that would be a DSM definition, and i don't think there is one. major depression with anxiety? that doesn't quite capture it to me.
good luck with you if you feel that coming on. it is scary, disorienting, but, i hear, there is an end. for me, it has been 18 months, and i expect another 6 months to a year before i really land.
get a good t, and hold on! it will end!! xxoo, jill
I think I must have been through one...I still don't feel 100% quite, but the break sort of opened up something I didn't realize I was doing/carrying. I've never forgiven myself...I mean literally saying to myself "It's ok, You are forgiven Margaret, you can let it go now."
Virtually everyone I know, or knows what I've been through these last four years would definitely say, you have absolutely nothing to forgive yourself for....I'm not going to get into that thought process...I just know I have beating myself up for a long time, but outwardly and even verbally laying the blame, the dissapointment, the loss, the betrayal, and everything that happened squarely in the lap it belonged to. But in reality and very much subconsciously I have been blaming myself for everything. I certainly didn't think thats what was going on ...because I didn't do anything wrong...I have been full of bitterness, hate, anger, saddness, for so long it just all came crashing in on me and I had no idea what was happening. I was internally blaming myself only I didn't know I was. On top of that, I was very confused and angry with myself for being so depressed...more like pissed off I couldn't manage to get through one day without melting down. I've been keeping a lid on it and hiding it for so long...it just came out and became unmangeable. I missed almost a week of work, I stopped eating, only getting 2-4 hours of sleep a night if that, I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't shower or brush my teeth..I just sat either on my bed or on the couch not moving, not even keeping up with my school work (I'm enrolled in online college). I've been down on an off here and there...but this was off the charts. I did get help about two weeks ago. But I feel like I need a vacation from thinking...It will all come together. I totally believe that the neuropathways (which in my case are the depression ones) we use the most, form the perspective we operate out of most of the time. The ones we don't use, become sort dull or work intermittantly and unsmoothly at best when they are activated (they are out of practice) So, since for me I really do believe you can physically change your brain, reading up on how neuropathways work and develope is of great interest to me. My goals are to firt expose my self to funny stuff (marx brothers, monty python, spongebob, slapstick)at least twenty minutes a day, incorporate 2 mile of walking at 3 days a week, devote one day a week to cleaning, and I will build upon that. I'll let you guys know how it's going. I'd like to put a little note on here often so I can be accountable to someone
And if your wondering yes, when I went to VA in Virginia, I spoke with a Psychiatric NP and she prescribed Paroxetine 20mg and Trazodone for sleep if I need it. Have only needed it a few nights. I have an appointment with her again on the 4th. I will be given a consult with PDoc then. So we'll see how it goes. It looks like I have it together right? HA HA ...im inching there
Virtually everyone I know, or knows what I've been through these last four years would definitely say, you have absolutely nothing to forgive yourself for....I'm not going to get into that thought process...I just know I have beating myself up for a long time, but outwardly and even verbally laying the blame, the dissapointment, the loss, the betrayal, and everything that happened squarely in the lap it belonged to. But in reality and very much subconsciously I have been blaming myself for everything. I certainly didn't think thats what was going on ...because I didn't do anything wrong...I have been full of bitterness, hate, anger, saddness, for so long it just all came crashing in on me and I had no idea what was happening. I was internally blaming myself only I didn't know I was. On top of that, I was very confused and angry with myself for being so depressed...more like pissed off I couldn't manage to get through one day without melting down. I've been keeping a lid on it and hiding it for so long...it just came out and became unmangeable. I missed almost a week of work, I stopped eating, only getting 2-4 hours of sleep a night if that, I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't shower or brush my teeth..I just sat either on my bed or on the couch not moving, not even keeping up with my school work (I'm enrolled in online college). I've been down on an off here and there...but this was off the charts. I did get help about two weeks ago. But I feel like I need a vacation from thinking...It will all come together. I totally believe that the neuropathways (which in my case are the depression ones) we use the most, form the perspective we operate out of most of the time. The ones we don't use, become sort dull or work intermittantly and unsmoothly at best when they are activated (they are out of practice) So, since for me I really do believe you can physically change your brain, reading up on how neuropathways work and develope is of great interest to me. My goals are to firt expose my self to funny stuff (marx brothers, monty python, spongebob, slapstick)at least twenty minutes a day, incorporate 2 mile of walking at 3 days a week, devote one day a week to cleaning, and I will build upon that. I'll let you guys know how it's going. I'd like to put a little note on here often so I can be accountable to someone
And if your wondering yes, when I went to VA in Virginia, I spoke with a Psychiatric NP and she prescribed Paroxetine 20mg and Trazodone for sleep if I need it. Have only needed it a few nights. I have an appointment with her again on the 4th. I will be given a consult with PDoc then. So we'll see how it goes. It looks like I have it together right? HA HA ...im inching there 
Hi Imp
I am glad to hear you are feeling stronger and coping better. I like your goals and the idea of accountability, good for you and i wish you lots of luck in achieving them and more!
Pan
I am glad to hear you are feeling stronger and coping better. I like your goals and the idea of accountability, good for you and i wish you lots of luck in achieving them and more!
Pan
imp. someone once told me that these things surface when you are ready to deal with them. like you, i repressed alot, and, although the fear and total upheaval in the awareness coming forth, i am changing for the better, and it needed to happen.
i relate to what you say about you logic forgiving yourself, but, that unconscious being still carries it forth. and that results in depression.
sometimes i still wonder if i fully know what the 'it', is. but, i'm working on it.
it sounds like you are your own best friend. you stopped when your body said stop. you listened. you put practical goals together, and, you are working WITH yourself to heal. rather than fighting yourself. i think i did that, and probably still do, in now knowing fully my own reality. but, i digress, you seem to be on top of it, and i wish you success with your appointment. xxoo, jill
i relate to what you say about you logic forgiving yourself, but, that unconscious being still carries it forth. and that results in depression.
sometimes i still wonder if i fully know what the 'it', is. but, i'm working on it.
it sounds like you are your own best friend. you stopped when your body said stop. you listened. you put practical goals together, and, you are working WITH yourself to heal. rather than fighting yourself. i think i did that, and probably still do, in now knowing fully my own reality. but, i digress, you seem to be on top of it, and i wish you success with your appointment. xxoo, jill
he he...taking a little break from homework..ughhh...got to get to bed at decent hour tonight....
Thank you so much for your kind words and support Pandora and Jill. 'Repressed' thats a very interesting topic. I'm not sure how it applies in my situation (my brain). I found it shocking I never realized I was in all actuality blaming myself all this time...especially since I felt/and actually was the 'victim'. I mean it makes sense I was completely oblivious to what I was actually feeling and internalizing, I believed I was a victim. But man! Once it dawned on me ...I was quick to let myslef off the hook. I don't understand it all quite yet, but it was something so so simple, I almost got mad at myself for not realizing it sooner, but then brushed that thought right out the door...I'd already done enough of that for years! Nope nope we'll have none of that! I sat down and mentally forgave myself for everything I was carrying since I can remember, from getting lost in department stores as a small child, to not folding up and putting away the latest load of clean laundry siting in a chair in my bedroom. I've been carrying sooo much self reproof and frustration, it really started to peak when I couldn't keep from crying....that made me nuts at myself...I couldn't stop. I was afraid I knew I'd been off kilter for a VERY long long time. I think you are right it was time for it to happen. I'm a little leary...its kind of weird not to be operating from a place of severe depression...it became a 'known' state I'd been in it for so long. So now I have to learn how to operate in my 'comfort zone'. I have a lot of 'unlearning' to do and It's imperative that I do a lot of re-learning. Re-learn what makes me happy and comfortable and learn the ways to live happily and not so self recriminating, and that scares me a little because I've only known hurt, anger, and victimzation for so long, I fear I don't know how to feel happiness and comfort. Eh...its a journey I'd rather be on. I'm only human and I seriously need to understand that and be easier on me.
Thanks bunches. ekhh back to the books. I hope you both have an absolutely FABULOUS evening
Thank you so much for your kind words and support Pandora and Jill. 'Repressed' thats a very interesting topic. I'm not sure how it applies in my situation (my brain). I found it shocking I never realized I was in all actuality blaming myself all this time...especially since I felt/and actually was the 'victim'. I mean it makes sense I was completely oblivious to what I was actually feeling and internalizing, I believed I was a victim. But man! Once it dawned on me ...I was quick to let myslef off the hook. I don't understand it all quite yet, but it was something so so simple, I almost got mad at myself for not realizing it sooner, but then brushed that thought right out the door...I'd already done enough of that for years! Nope nope we'll have none of that! I sat down and mentally forgave myself for everything I was carrying since I can remember, from getting lost in department stores as a small child, to not folding up and putting away the latest load of clean laundry siting in a chair in my bedroom. I've been carrying sooo much self reproof and frustration, it really started to peak when I couldn't keep from crying....that made me nuts at myself...I couldn't stop. I was afraid I knew I'd been off kilter for a VERY long long time. I think you are right it was time for it to happen. I'm a little leary...its kind of weird not to be operating from a place of severe depression...it became a 'known' state I'd been in it for so long. So now I have to learn how to operate in my 'comfort zone'. I have a lot of 'unlearning' to do and It's imperative that I do a lot of re-learning. Re-learn what makes me happy and comfortable and learn the ways to live happily and not so self recriminating, and that scares me a little because I've only known hurt, anger, and victimzation for so long, I fear I don't know how to feel happiness and comfort. Eh...its a journey I'd rather be on. I'm only human and I seriously need to understand that and be easier on me.
Thanks bunches. ekhh back to the books. I hope you both have an absolutely FABULOUS evening