Psychological, mental, and emotional breakdown is not a medically recognized condition, but is a colloquial term used to describe the condition in which excessive, prolonged stress causes disruption in a person's daily life, such as in work, family and responsibilities.
Often we hear people saying, 'I was on the verge of an emotional breakdown!' What is this emotional breakdown that people talk about? When one encounters a series of horrendous situations in life; too much for one to bear, one is seen to hit an emotional breakdown.
It's when life hits its lowest point and throws the person in such a pit, whereby the person's day-to-day activities are affected. The person seems oblivious of the world around him or her and lives mostly in a daze like a zombie. The person's daily chores, work, family responsibilities, etc. also get affected.
Actually we all go through harrowing events in our lives, however, when these situations overwhelm us to the point that we fail to rationally think and let them overtake our sanity, it is called emotional breakdown. The person collapses to a point where he or she cannot cope with current circumstances in life.
Symptoms of a Breakdown
Bereavement, loss of a job, change in relationships, divorce, marital strain, betrayal, extreme peer pressure, parental criticism or negligence, etc. are different factors that conduce to emotional breakdown in people.
The signs are as follows:
Constant anxiety
Severe depression
Panic attacks
Insecurity
Self condemnation
Self pity
Lack of self worth
Tremendous fear
Obsessive thinking about what happened
Delusions
Suspecting or doubting everybody
Episodes of uncontrollable weeping
Separation from everyday life
Cold shoulders to family and friends
Constant irritability and anger
Irritation on hearing the sound of TV, radio or general noise
Avoiding socialization
May over-eat or under-eat
Disinterest in work, family or even life
Insomnia or excess sleep
Disinterest in personal grooming
Hearing voices
Suicidal thoughts
How to Cope with an Emotional Breakdown?
If you are going through an emotional breakdown, do not blame yourself for not being able to cope with the stressful situations. We all have our limits of how much we can bear emotionally and mentally.
Do not ever mistake yourself to be 'mad' or 'insane'! It's because of the excess stress load, that your mind seems cluttered and clouded. So how do you help yourself to get out of this situation? How do you hoist yourself from this pit?
Go to Your Creator
The medical treatment would be to go to a psychiatrist and take some kind of medications that calm the mind. However, most of these medications are known to have side effects.
Moreover, scores of people will come back saying, they tried so many medicines over the years with no relief. They are still stuck in the quicksand of depression. Then what does one do in such cases?
Why depend on something unreliable when you can depend on the most Faithful One. Go to Jesus and He will help you. Even if you do not believe in God, during this time try trusting Him.
The key to all your problems lies with Jesus! Read the Bible for once and see what Jesus says. If you find Him not trustworthy, it's all right, you can turn away. But, what's the harm in trying? What if there is some truth in it?
Go to Church
Church with all its flaws is still the house of God. Go and attend church. Pray and bring before God your heart's burdens, aches and pains. God has placed His people to comfort those grieving.
He will send you somebody to hear your story. If you know any committed, honest and sincere Christians go up to them, ask them to pray for you. Prayer can work wonders! Once you surrender your life to Jesus, you will be left in awe at the way God uses these horrendous times for His glory. He builds us up so that we can help others in pain. It's all amazing!
Avoid Drugs, Alcohol and Sleeping Pills
It's extremely easy to slip into alcohol, drugs and sleeping pill dependence, simply because we do not want to face our circumstances and overcome it.
We just wish to wipe off the harrowing memories from our hearts and minds altogether. In the urge to have one painless day, we succumb to alcohol, drugs or sleeping pills.
Once you get entangled in this mess, things become even more difficult. Addiction is no joke, so do not play the fool with it. Avoid being controlled and bound by these things. You will save yourself a lot of trouble.
Reading, Painting or Music
An idle mind is the devil's workshop! Never allow yourself to be idle and staring at the ceiling doing nothing for hours. Your mind will simply drift to self-condemning and suicidal thoughts, therefore, keep yourself as busy as you can. Buy books and read them.
If you paint or sketch, spend time doing that. Musically inclined people can use music to keep themselves busy. Moreover, avoid being alone. Stay with family members and friends even if you feel really moody or low.
People with family histories of mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, major depression, etc. are more prone to be hit emotional breakdowns during prolonged periods of stress. We can rejoice because there is no pit that Jesus is not deeper still! There is no valley too deep, that Jesus is not deeper still!