MENTAL BREAKDOWN

While these symptoms can happen to anyone once in a while, piled together they can make for some classic signs that you may be mentally breaking down. You may have heard of the term mental breakdown or nervous breakdown. You may have even been guilty of using these terms casually. They're no longer used as clinical terms anymore by the medical community.

And a nervous breakdown is not considered a mental illness. Instead it's generally viewed as a period of time when an overwhelming amount of stress affects an individual's ability to function. This stress can be physical or mental. And the symptoms of a mental breakdown can subtly sneak up on you and grow out of control if you don't catch the signs early enough.

So to help better your mental health, let's catch these signs early on and see if we can figure out together if you're mentally breaking down.
Sign number one, you sleep too much or not enough. Do you find yourself suffering from insomnia? Do you spend your nights tossing and turning with no relief? Or maybe you're getting too much sleep.

Do you think to yourself, "I'll just lay my head down for one more minute?" And then you wake up to the lights of your clock reading 5:00 pm? Oh boy! Who hasn't had too much sleep at some point in their life, right? We most often sleep in on the weekends after a long week of work or when we're sick.

But the thing is our mental health can be sick as well. And our sleep patterns may be effected because of it. You may be using sleep as an escape from reality. So sleeping in seems much easier to handle than the difficulties of reality. Or maybe you begin to exhibit symptoms of insomnia because your brain is too overactive at night with stress.

You could be playing out situations or scenarios in your head that you're stressed beyond belief about. Try instead to unwind before bed. Odds are you've heard it before, but a good book and a cup of tea is a good place to start if you can't seem to sleep lately. The less stimulation the better.

Just don't watch TV or get on your phone before bed. We need to first wean ourselves from an overly active brain to a calm one by choosing less intense activities to transition to sleepy time. If you go from sprinting to an immediate stop, you're likely to fall. You might first slow down, walk and then stop to a finish.

It's the same with going to bed, kind of. Number two, you show signs of anxiety and depression. One of the most and signs that you're mentally breaking down is showing symptoms of depression or anxiety. Maybe you feel you're tense all the time, dizzy or find yourself ruminating on stressful ideas or situations, or maybe you find yourself suddenly crying for no reason or feel an intense emotion and like guilt.

These signs are important to catch early on as they could pile up, leading to a mental breakdown. If you already suffer from anxiety and depression and notice your symptoms are worsening, these could be signs that you're mentally breaking down as well. Number three, brain fog. Brain fog? What is that? While it's not a medical condition, it's a term that's often used when one exhibits several symptoms related to their ability to think.

Perhaps you have difficulty concentrating. Or maybe you've been extremely indecisive or disoriented these past few days or weeks. Even memory loss is a symptom of brain fog. Number four, poor hygiene. If you suddenly find yourself neglecting your personal hygiene, it could mean something is going on. Poor hygiene can be a sign of self-neglect.

You may just feel that you don't have the energy or don't feel the need to take care of yourself as much anymore. A sudden lack of hygiene can be linked to depression or mental disorders. It's best to recognize when something is wrong early so you can seek out help. Number five, you withdraw from social events and friends.

Have you found that you're just not so up to hanging out with your friends this weekend, or next weekend, or the weekend after that? Maybe you dread going to that get-together with your friends this Saturday. And the task of getting ready (sighs) pain's taking the heart. Well, withdrawing from your friends and social events could be an added sign that you're mentally breaking down.

Humans need socialization. And when this is compromised, our mental health can pay the price. Try getting back to socialization slowly if you find it difficult. Reach out to friends through text, share a funny or insightful video, and then maybe a phone call. Isolating ourselves can be one of the biggest mistakes to our mental health that we can make.
Just don't mentally isolate. Number six, difficulty breathing. Do you often and feel this tightness in your chest or find yourself breathing rapidly? Maybe you've been taking quick, rapid breaths more than usual as a response to stress.

Go ahead, pay attention to your breathing right now. I'm waiting. Are you breathing calm and relaxed or are you having difficulty breathing? This is another sign of stress. And another sign that you may be mentally breaking down. Stress can get the best of us. Anxiety has a way of finding us when we least expect it.

Our breathing can often identify if we're indeed suffering from anxiety. And taking the time to slow your breathing and relax may even relieve some of the stress we carry day to day. Go ahead, take a deep breath. In, one, two, three. Out, one, two, and three. (Sighs) Feel better? I know I do. Number seven, you feel physical pain as well.

Maybe you've happened to notice that you've been suffering from one too many headaches per week, more like seven per week, per day. And that stomach-ache can't seem to go away. Physical pain can often show up when we're severely stressed. This can be in the form of a light headache every day to a blaring migraine.

That feeling of a knot in your stomach that could be stressed too. Of course, if these physical symptoms of pain persist and feel like something more than just stress, it's best to talk to a doctor right away. But if you still feel the emotional pain persisting as well, that is just as valid a reason to seek help from a mental health doctor.
You suddenly eat too much or too little. Sudden changes in appetite can be a sign of stress as well. The stress hormone cortisol can suddenly cause us to crave certain unhealthy foods, high in fat and sugar. So when we're extremely stressed, bring up the family-size bag of potato chips and a tub of ice cream.

Hey, every one of us can overeat on a bad day every now and then. But when this becomes every night, odds are there's some suppressed stress you need to confront. Remember we may neglect self-care due to stress which means we may not want to put in the effort to prepare a healthy breakfast or dinner. Be aware of this and try to tell yourself that simply spending some time in the kitchen making your favourite healthy dish can have some serious benefits to your mental health.
Try some deep breathing as you put your dinner together. You can try staying in the present by focusing on the task at hand to distract yourself from ruminating on those worrisome thoughts. Make another healthy sandwich for a friend to share while watching a movie. But then once the movie is over, turn off the TV and wind down with a book.