Can anyone tell me what was meant by the term: "nervous breakdown" I've been struggling with some episodes of elevated anxiety over the past few days. I get really nervous, my head feels like it's in a vice, & although I can see what's in front of me, somehow it doesn't seem to register in my brain. I've also been experiencing more shakiness in my hands & my legs feel peculiar, almost like they might not hold me up although I know they will... or at least they always have...

Anyway, all of this reminded me of an incident that occurred many years ago. I came in to work one day & one of the two secretaries who worked in the department I worked in was gone. Other staff in the department were talking about the fact that this person had a nervous breakdown at work the day before. I didn't really understand what this entailed & I still don't. But it scared the bejeebers out of me because I was a ball of nerves & anxiety all of the time. And if it could happen to her, then I presumed it could happen to me. (It didn't although I think I've probably been close any number of times over the years since then.)

I presume, nowadays, whatever a nervous breakdown was, it is called by a different name. I think I may be getting close once again...

[Rapunzel]

What you are describing sounds like most likely a panic attack. Nervous breakdown was never a clinical term and it isn't specific to any particular event or disorder. It is a layman's term referring to the onset of significant mental health symptoms or reaching a breaking point. It used to be thought that these events were more permanent than we consider them to be now, and people would be "put away" or labeled as "delicate" and severely limited possibly for the rest of their lives. I like to think that we have a more hopeful outlook now and are better at treating mental illness and allowing people to go on living their lives.

[birdpumpkin]

I've been wondering the same thing The Skeezyks. I've been experiencing the same symptoms as you for almost 6 months now - since we lost our home to a fire. I feel totally ill at ease most of the time, shaky, scared, light-headed, etc. All the symptoms of anxiety, but sometimes they are so strong - and now I have panic attacks. I've wondered if a panic attack was the same as a nervous breakdown. I'm probably one of those "delicate" people lol... Thanks for the clarification.

A single panic attack is not a nervous breakdown. "Nervous breakdown" is a term that refers to a period of time in which someone is overwhelmed with stress, anxiety, worry, depression, and possibly psychosis...the person is overwhelmed to the point at which s/he is unable to function in normal day-to-day life.

[(JD)]

I'm sure Rap wasn't saying "one" panic attack...

and yes, for most it's feeling constantly overwhelmed and out of control.

One way to combat it is with solutions to the cognitive distortions being used... thinking in black and white, all or nothing, never and always... learning to think rationally about what is really happening and what you can or cannot do about it etc.

[Rapunzel]

No, I didn't mean to say that a panic attack was equivalent to a nervous breakdown. I just meant that the heightened anxiety and physical sensations that The Skeezyks described sound a lot like panic attacks.

Yes. The problem I have is I understand what's happening & why it's happening. And I'm familiar with the pitfalls of black-&-white thinking, etc. But, when I get into stressful situations, the symptoms I describe come on anyway. In fact, the shakiness in my hands & arms is there even when I'm not in a stressful situation. I suspect part of the problem is I've lived in a heightened state of anxiety for SO many years that my body now goes into panic mode, in stressful situations, even when rationally I know there's nothing to be stressed out about. I no longer have control over it... not that I ever did...

[monkeybruv]

Yeah, 'nervous breakdown' isn't a clinical term but people tend to use it to describe a sudden inability to function normally - as in, someone could be totally fine and something unexpected throws them over the edge, or struggling in silence for a while until they 'snap' to the point where they're acting abnormally and can no longer hide it.