Mental breakdown (also known as nervous breakdown or snapping) is a non-medical term used to describe a sudden, acute attack of mental illness such as depression or anxiety. Black Flag was a hardcore punk band formed in 1976 in southern California, largely as the brainchild of Greg Ginn: the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A mental illness or mental disorder refers to one of many mental health conditions characterized by distress, impaired cognitive functioning, atypical behavior, emotional dysregulation, and/or maladaptive behavior. ... On the Threshold of Eternity. ... Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal, pathological anxiety, fears, phobias. ...

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Like the term "sanity," the terms "nervous breakdown" and "mental breakdown" do not have any medical definition and are not used in a clinical sense. A mental breakdown is not the same as a panic attack, though mental breakdowns can trigger panic. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Sanity considered as a legal term denotes that an individual is of sound mind and therefore can bear legal responsibility for his or her actions. ... Panic attacks are sudden, discrete periods of intense anxiety, fear and discomfort that are associated with a variety of somatic and cognitive symptoms[1]. The onset of these episodes is typically abrupt, and may have no obvious trigger. ...

Specific cases are usually described as a "breakdown" only after a person becomes unable to function in day-to-day life due to mental illness.^[1] The person's condition is then advanced, and seeking professional aid is advisable.

Causes

Causes of breakdown might include:

• bullying
• chronic and unresolved grief
• chronic or newly discovered illness/ailment
• unemployment
• academic problems
• career burnout
• social stress
• unresolved sexual identity crisis
• post-war trauma
• chronic insomnia and other sleep disorders
• serious or chronic illness of a family member
• divorce
• relationship breakup
• death of a family member
• pregnancy
• a traumatic, violent, or near-death experience
• deception by a loved one
• unrequited love

The sudden, acute onset of the following mental illnesses might be classified as breakdowns: A very common image in many schools around the world. ... It has been suggested that Anticipatory Grief be merged into this article or section. ... CIA figures for world unemployment rates, 2006 Unemployment is the state in which a person is without work, available to work, and is currently seeking work. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ... Burnout is a psychologica term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest [depersonalization] or cynicism), usually in the work context. ... Gender identity disorder as identified by psychologists and medical doctors is a condition where a person who has been assigned one gender (usually at birth on the basis of their sex, but compare intersexual) but identifies as belonging to another gender, or does not conform with the gender role their... This article is about the sleeping disorder. ... Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the ending of a marriage before the death of either spouse. ... Break-up redirects here. ... For other uses, see Death (disambiguation). ... This article is about pregnancy in female humans. ... Unrequited love is love that is not reciprocated, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. ... A mental illness or mental disorder refers to one of many mental health conditions characterized by distress, impaired cognitive functioning, atypical behavior, emotional dysregulation, and/or maladaptive behavior. ...

• clinical depression
• bipolar disorder
• schizophrenia
• schizo affective disorder
• psychosis
• dissociation
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• severe stress
• anxiety

On the Threshold of Eternity. ... For other uses, see Bipolar. ... Schizoaffective disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis of a neurobiological illness. ... For other uses, see Psychosis (disambiguation). ... Dissociation is a state of acute mental decompensation in which certain thoughts, emotions, sensations, and/or memories are compartmentalized because they are too overwhelming for the conscious mind to integrate. ... Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term for certain severe psychological consequences of exposure to, or confrontation with, stressful events that the person experiences as highly traumatic. ... Stress (roughly the opposite of relaxation) is a medical term for a wide range of strong external stimuli, both physiological and psychological, which can cause a physiological response called the general adaptation syndrome, first described in 1936 by Hans Selye in the journal Nature. ... Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal, pathological anxiety, fears, phobias. ...

See also

• Causes of psychiatric disorder
• Mental health
• Sanity

There have been many theories about Causes of psychiatric disorders. ... Mental health is a term used to describe either a level of cognitive or emotional wellbeing or an absence of a mental disorder. ... Sanity considered as a legal term denotes that an individual is of sound mind and therefore can bear legal responsibility for his or her actions. ...

References

1. ^ Hallowell, Edward M & John Ratey. 2005. Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder. Ballentine Books. ISBN 0345442318

• Mayo Clinic Mental Breakdown
• Mental Breakdown Info