Signs you're heading for a mental breakdown?

Anonymous #1

as title please

:frown:

Reply 1

Gardocki

Both of your personalities start to argue more and more.

EDIT - and if you're looking for serious advice on here, I hope someone can help you. I'd get to a doctor as soon as though.

Reply 2

didgeridoo12uk

Gardocki

Both of your personalities start to argue more and more.

that actually happens to me quite alot. not personalities but well i'm pretty convinced theres more than one stream of consciousness in my head :/

and OP, well generally very little sleep is a good sign of a mental breakdown. and everything seeming terribly confusing and finding it impossible to make choices

Reply 3

Stratos

Increase in stress, you struggle to make everyday choices, darkening under eyes due to difficulty sleeping, high blood pressure due to anxiety and last but not least schizophrenic episodes(although this is only a severe symptom)

Reply 4

ExDeusVenitBritannia

Anonymous

as title please

:frown:

Ok, so the main thing to look out for is an overriding awareness of increasing stress levels, where you feel yourself approaching levels you can't cope with. Not everyone is aware of it, sometimes people just snap, but it's quite rare. People tend to be aware of the build up towards a breakdown. If you're feeling like that, first things first, you need to get to a GP as soon as possible. The acuity of your stress levels warrant medical attention.

Ok, so there are also a whole other range of things that you can experience, but it depends really on the type of breakdown you're talking about.

There's depersonalisation, the feeling that you're watching yourself in the 3rd person, or the feeling that you're somehow moving outside your body; paranoia, where you develop irration worries about the intentions of others and imagine dangers to yourself; psychosis, where you feel detached from reality, like long periods of deja vu or feelings of surrealism or you know, just not feeling in tune with what's actually happening in objective reality. These are just extra things to look out for, depending on the nature of your condition and the cause of your present disposition.

Are you able to sit still? Are you able to find moments of emotional stability or inner peace? Do you shake? Do you feel hopelessly helpless, like you're totally powerless to stop the stressors?

I think that's not a bad, albeit rough, guide for you at this time in the morning. However you're feeling, make a note of it, do some research on wikipedia etc, and go to your GP and tell them literally everything related to how you're feeling.

EDVB, hoping things pick up soon.

Reply 5

Anonymous #1

ExDeusVenitBritannia

thanks everyone so far :smile:

the reason that I ask is because I am a very stressed/anxious person (with depression to boot) and often have these, what I can only describe as, 'episodes' where I feel so stressed and pressured and anxious and agitated. I had one tonight at work :frown:

I actually was afraid that i was going to totally lose it in front of customers :colondollar:

so self-conscious aswell. It seems stupid as it's only a job (it's fulltime though) but on my break I coulsn't even relax so agitated and unable to keep still. I went down to the fridge and silently screamed :colondollar:

I have these episodes occasionally (mostly at work) but they seem to be intensifying each time. Although I kept the tears until I got home then I couldn't hold them in, came out of no-where lol

:frown:

I am fairly fine now though so thta probably means that even though I feel like I'm going to crack I probably won't?

ah I dunno, thanks again though

:smile:

Reply 6

ExDeusVenitBritannia

Anonymous

thanks everyone so far :smile:

I actually was afraid that i was going to totally lose it in front of customers :colondollar:

I am fairly fine now though so thta probably means that even though I feel like I'm going to crack I probably won't?

ah I dunno, thanks again though

:smile:

You don't have to explain yourself to us.

It seems like your episodes have a social dimension too, perhaps triggered by stressful features of dealing with people. It could also be a form of panic attack. I'm just trying to say in a round about way I don't think you're ever quite on the edge, but that's not to say it won't happen in the future.

Are you taking anti-depressants? If you are, this sort of thing can happen when you start them or change dose or even change medication.

You seem also to place great emphasis on the acuity of these episodes, but I should probably tell you that you don't just get the feeling you could break down, you are actually aware that you're on the edge, then over the edge, then aware of actually being in the process of breaking down. It's like the ground just moves beneath your feet, and you can't carry on as before because you don't quite know which way is up. That's what the literature says, and people tend to validate that view of it.

In short, go to your GP and tell him everything.

EDVB