Mental Health

Lower the Risks of Having Nervous Breakdowns in 3 Steps

How do mental breakdowns happen, and what precautions can we take to prevent them via healthy lifestyle choices?

Purpose of the Article

This article defines and introduces a behavioral crisis, publicly known as a nervous breakdown or mental breakdown, for a common understanding.

This article aims to create awareness of reducing the risks of having nervous breakdowns via healthy lifestyle habits. This piece is not about diagnosing or treating the related conditions.

Thus, this post does not include health advice. Instead, my goal is to inform and inspire readers to be proactive in preventing the condition from happening by using healthy lifestyle choices.

What is a nervous breakdown, and why does it matter?

My understanding is that a nervous breakdown is not a physical or mental disease. It is a behavioral situation that multiple disorders might cause. However, some people mention it as a disease when they or their loved ones experience the situation, and insurance companies do not accept the claims.

Nervous breakdown refers to a highly stressful mental state that happens suddenly and makes us unable to function in our daily duties. It is a critical situation as it means that the person has reached rock bottom and cannot function anymore.

Another commonly used term for a nervous breakdown is mental breakdown. However, these concepts are not formal medical terms. So mental health professionals officially do not use these terms.

Professionals usually diagnose nervous breakdown as the outcome of anxiety, acute stress disorder, or clinical depression. So the central theme of a nervous breakdown is sudden and intense mental stress that prevents people from living their lives.

Even though a nervous breakdown is not considered a formal mental health condition, many people suffer from it. Therefore, having a nervous breakdown is not an ordinary living condition. It depicts something psychologically or physically wrong in the body.

There might be multiple reasons for the manifestation of a nervous breakdown. The root causes might be psychological, physical, or behavioral.

People experiencing nervous breakdowns feel exceptionally stressed and overwhelmed to do even the easiest and simplest tasks. They get stuck, helpless, and hopeless.

Common symptoms include low energy, fatigue, insomnia, feeling worthless, guilty, or hopeless, losing interest in work or hobbies, feeling restless or irritable, feeling extreme anxiety or fear, and having physical tension such as sore muscles, upset stomach, and sticky hands.

In extreme cases, some people feel anhedonia, clinical depression, severe mood swings, constant nightmares, hallucinations, paranoia, self-harm, and even suicidal attempts.

As a nervous breakdown might include a cluster of physical and mental conditions, there might be numerous root causes.

The common causes in the literature are poor sleep, exposure to violence or discrimination, job loss, divorce, other traumatic events, stressful work conditions, and chronic medical history.

One of the relevant hypotheses in the literature is increased oxidation and inflammation in the nervous due to overstimulation, as described in this paper. Inflammation in neurons is a well-known root cause of cognitive and neurodegenerative disorders.

According to a study in 2000, as reported by Guardian in those days, 26% of Americans said they had felt on the verge of a mental breakdown, including relationship problems, and being a single parent was most often cited as the cause. Since then, the situation has grown further.

As Mayo Clinic advises, “If you feel that you’re experiencing a nervous breakdown, get help. If you have a primary care provider, talk to him or her about your signs and symptoms or seek help from a mental health professional.”

My focus in this article is to create awareness of a nervous breakdown and reduce the risks of reaching this crisis point via healthy lifestyle habits.

Lower the Risks of Having Nervous Breakdown in 3 Steps

Based on my reviews of the relevant conditions to a nervous breakdown, I summarise the key points under three broad headings.

Please note that these points are about reducing the risks of having nervous breakdowns, not treating them.

The treatment is conducted by qualified healthcare professionals using various methods, such as medication and behavioral therapies.

I focus on general principles. So, the critical points in the following sections might reduce the risks of physical and mental health conditions leading to nervous breakdowns.

1 — Pay attention to fundamentals consistently and persistently.

Except for underlying health issues, some nervous breakdowns happened due to missing fundamentals.

Throughout history, humans identified fundamental needs that apply to everyone, even though the details vary from person to person.

The fundamentals for every human being is restorative sleep, good nutrition, regular movement, timely rest, having fun, and socialization.

Lack of sleep, nutritional deficiencies, sedentary life, lack of rest and fun, and social isolation are root causes of many physical and mental ailments.

Shortage of one or more of these fundamentals can challenge our nervous system, causes stress overload, and break the balance.

Excessive stress induces the body to create more inflammation to recover. Unfortunately, excessive inflammation puts the body in a disadvantaged position.

In addition to rest and fun, the following three factors are critical to reducing the risks of overwhelm and preventing nervous breakdowns.

Restorative Sleep

The power of sleep for our physical and mental health is underestimated. Some people neglect this fundamental and reduce sleep hours to earn more money or fame.

This paper informs that “Sleep deprivation and chronic stress are associated with a propensity to depression, anxiety, and insomnia.”

Quality Nutrition

As food is associated with pleasure, people usually get nutrition from their food for enjoyment. However, deficiencies and overconsumption are common. Both extreme ends lead to physical and mental issues.

As pointed out in this paper, “dietary compounds have been suggested to be involved in the onset and maintenance of depressive disorders and in the severity of depressive symptoms. Nutritional compounds might modulate depression-associated biomarkers and parallel the development of depression, obesity, and diabetes.”

Regular Movement

Movement is another neglected fundamental for some people. Studies indicate that regular exercise can lower the risks of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders.

For example, this paper informs:

“physical activity and exercise have positive effects on mood and anxiety, and many studies describe an association between physical activity and general well-being, mood, and anxiety. In line, intervention studies describe an anxiolytic and anti-depressive exercise activity in healthy subjects and patients.”

In addition, exercise can contribute to brain health by balancing neurotransmitters and producing BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor), which can prevent brain atrophy that can cause a nervous breakdown.

2 — Keep the brain active and calm in a delicate balance.

This heading might sound paradoxical. You might ask how something active can be calm. The brain is designed to be very busy and also requires remaining calm at specific times to function correctly.

As mental health disorders begin with our thoughts and feelings, a good starting point is looking after our brains. Anything we do good for the body can also be good for the brain, as I touched on in the first section related to fundamentals.

Several lifestyle choices can be used to keep the brain active. From my years of research in the cognitive science field, the most effective ways are reading, expressive writing, self-talk, conversations with loved ones and friends, listening to music, playing games, dancing, and problem-solving for personal and professional reasons.

The scientific name for keeping the brain active and growing is called neurogenesis, as I introduced in an article titled Here’s How I Activated Neurogenesis and Transformed My Depressive Mind into a Joyful One in 5 Steps.

In simple terms, neurogenesis is the formation of new neurons and new connections in the brain, providing better functionality. Neurogenesis enables neuroplasticity, giving us better cognitive capabilities.

One of the mechanisms is increasing BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) with lifestyle habits. I documented my findings and experience in an article titled Here’s How to Increase BDNF with Five Lifestyle Habits.

In addition to the fundamentals mentioned before, entering ketosis to provide the brain with alternative energy and using thermogenesis to strengthen mitochondria can be valuable in increasing BDNF and keeping the brain active.

We also need to rest the brain. Sleep is critical and inevitable. However, we can also use fun activities and mindfulness methods such as meditation to rest the brain and strengthen the neocortex. Therefore, I regularly fast, move and meditate to keep my brain active and rested simultaneously.

3 — Manage thoughts, emotions, and relationships mindfully.

Managing our thoughts is vital because they affect our emotions and behavior. Therefore, we need to be aware of our thoughts as they arise. When they start, thoughts are neutral, but our focus and interpretation give positive or negative meaning to them.

From my experience, an effective way of managing thoughts is via mindfulness techniques. Acting mindfully and regular meditation can train the brain to manage thoughts effectively.

Other effective ways to manage thoughts are visualization, expressive writing, listening to music, self-talk, and working in the flow state.

Emotions come from the body and mind. Our thoughts impact them. Even though the brain might regulate emotions through cognitive, limbic, and reptilian parts, we also need the body to control our emotions.

Pleasant emotions can enhance brain health. Unpleasant emotions such as fear, anxiety, anger, and grief can be hazardous in excessive amounts and prolonged times.

The crucial point about managing emotions is expressing them rather than suppressing them. As emotional regulation is crucial for health, I posted an article titled Regulate Emotions to Knock Chronic Stress with Five Powerful Tools.

Focusing on our breath allows us to manage thoughts and emotions effectively. Breathing exercises can gradually calm the brain and change negative thoughts and feelings to positive ones by improving heart rate variability.

Meaningful social connections for improving brain health are necessary. The impact of our relationships with others on the brain and mental health has enough evidence in the body of knowledge.

Socially active people who connect with others meaningfully and develop healthy relationships might live happier and longer lives. By living mindfully, we can connect with others better.

Care, empathy, compassion, trust, and optimism are essential to improving our relationships and reducing unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Furthermore, self-love and compassion toward others might nurture the brain. With these approaches, we can attract more loving people to our lives.

Takeaways

As a nervous breakdown is a psychosomatic condition, we must look after our bodies and minds with utmost care. Developing healthy lifestyle habits make it easier to maintain a delicate balance.

Here are seven simple tips to consider.

1 — Despite life’s challenges, we need to get enough restorative sleep daily.

2 — Consuming nutritious food giving enough energy, essential amino acids, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals is vital.

3 — As professionals advise, we must move the body regularly for at least 150 minutes per week. The type of exercise is an individual matter.

4 — We must rest the body after work and exercise. And always, we must recover from the effects of previous exercises before starting the next ones.

5 — Scheduling fun activities and making commitments unless something urgent happens is essential to manage our stress.

6 — We need to rest the brain while keeping it active with stimulating and calming activities.

7 — Managing our thoughts, emotions, and relationships is crucial to maintaining physical and mental health.

Final Words

Stimulation of our nervous system is essential for our growth and enjoyment of life. However, constant overstimulation might lead to a nervous breakdown.

Prevention of nervous breakdowns by reducing risks is the best approach. However, life is not straightforward for some of us. Unexpected situations might cause a breakdown.

Taking immediate action and seeking help are critical. Some people try self-medication, excessive alcohol, or drugs to elevate the pain. Unfortunately, these approaches might cause further complications and delay recovery.

Furthermore, reframing the breakdown as a path to healing is also essential to speed up recovery. If you want to get a different perspective on nervous breakdowns, you might watch this five-minute animated presentation on YouTube.

In the end, breakdowns might be seen as the body’s way of saying, “Enough is enough. I need a break now.” Thus, we need to listen to and honor the body’s demand and nurture it with support from loved ones and qualified professionals.

More importantly, there is no shame in having a nervous breakdown. It is a natural phenomenon. Anyone can experience it. As we are not machines, we need to slow down as needed. We also must watch out for triggering or aggravating factors.

Let’s keep in mind that stress is not just a psychological phenomenon. Even in small amounts, stress affects the brain at the genetic level. Therefore, managing micro stressors as they occur is crucial to lowering their adverse effects.

I documented a case study reflecting on a friend's experience with a nervous breakdown in an article titled Naomi Regretted to Sacrifice Her Health for Entrepreneurship. Burnout, nervous breakdown, and stroke resulted from her entrepreneurial ambition and reckless decisions.

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