deaniedarling asked this question on 5/3/2000:

I'm just confused about the definition of a comonly used term: I hear of a lot about people having what is reffered to as a "nervous breakdown" and from what I gather it's due to stress or not being able to cope with difficult circumstances. What I don't get is exactly what a "nervous breakdown" involves(it's a bit of a taboo subject and so one can't really just ask someone who has gone through it.) It seems to be "different for everyone", so how does anyone know if they've had one? Would it not be difficult to diagnose?

kinghappy gave this response on 5/3/2000:

as far as i know, a nervous breakdown i svery different for everyone. i have never heard of it being officially diagnosed though, i dont think i have ever heard of a thereapist using that phrase, i think it is a lay persons term. basically it just involves a negative reaction to high amounts of stress. that reaction could be different for everyone as well as the stress involved. a person could enter a stage of severe depression or go into a slightly manic episode. another reaction could be a brief psychosis. most common though i think are symptoms kin to generalized anxiety disorder like panic attacks, disorganized thinking, inability to concentrate and a general feeling of uneasiness. as far as treatment i would suspect they would be treated like they had g.a.d. or another anxiety problem. of course, a nervous breakdown is generally and isolated event, so it should not be thought of as a disorder until it becomes a frequent occurence. unfortunately i have no reference material on this, so what i am saying is from my own understanding but i hope you find it helpful.

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