The term “nervous breakdown” is one that isn’t used as frequently as it used to be, as our understanding of mental health has gotten a little better. Although it’s not always the case, it’s often that the terms panic attack or anxiety attack would better describe what has happened. If you have experienced one recently, it can be a scary event and a real wake-up call that perhaps your mental health requires some more time and investigation. Here, we’re going to look at how you can get through such an event, and what you might want to look at doing after.

What is a nervous breakdown?

The experience of what we call a nervous breakdown is not universal. As mentioned, some people have panic or anxiety attacks which are later dubbed as nervous breakdowns by those who might not know the symptoms. It’s not always a diagnosable condition, although there are certainly some conditions that can make them more likely. Usually, they involve feeling intense stress or extreme anxiety, which can reach such a point in daily life that you find yourself unable to function as you usually would, which can result in some highly out-of-character behavior. Just bear in mind that not everyone experiences these episodes in exactly the same way. That shouldn’t stop you from looking for help just because it wasn’t like you expected or thought others have it.

Admit that you need some help

While panic attacks, nervous breakdowns, and other acute mental episodes can happen to anyone, that doesn’t mean that they should be brushed off as an everyday occurrence. They are serious, and they should demand your attention. As such, it should serve as a wake-up call, if it hasn’t already, that you may need to seek some help with your mental health. Whether that’s counseling, treatment, or otherwise, that will depend on you and the health professionals that you seek out to work through it with you. But if you simply try to ignore the problem, it should not be a surprise if it resurfaces in the future, but bigger and worse.

Seek a diagnosis

In some cases, there may not be a diagnosable condition at the root of a nervous breakdown. Sometimes, they are simply a loss of control when faced with an overwhelmingly stressful set of circumstances and stimuli. Anyone is capable of losing control when faced with major trauma, stress, or other emotional difficulty. That said, you should still see if there is a diagnosable and treatable condition at the root cause of it. This might mean seeking treatment for anxiety, which can include things like cognitive behavioral therapy. If there is a diagnosable condition that is at the heart of the episode, then it’s important to address it to prevent it from happening again.

Address the stressors in your life

The way to beat mental health issues is not to get rid of all of the stress and negative emotions in your life. That’s simply not possible. Learning how to better cope with feelings that are difficult to face is likely to be the more effective strategy in the long run. However, there is work that could be done to better identify the stressors in your life and to adjust them where possible. For instance, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by work stress, then readjusting your work-life balance and finding time for self-care, be it by seeking more flexible working conditions, a new job, or even talking with your family about dialing back your work-life, if possible might help you mitigate some of the worst aspects of the stress you’re feeling.

Learn some mindfulness techniques

As mentioned, you’re not always going to be able to decrease the amount of stress-inducing stimuli or circumstances in your life. When that fails, you also need to be able to look at how you can better manage how you react to those stimuli. This isn’t about adjusting your public behavior, but rather your internal behavior, how your mind reacts to certain triggers and stimuli. Mindfulness meditation can prove very effective in helping you get a better idea of your own range of reactions and your own triggers. When you better understand your triggers, you can mitigate your own reactions to them. Of course, this is even better done with the help of a professional.

Make healthy changes to your lifestyle

There are a lot of things that you can change within your own lifestyle to reduce your chances of a nervous breakdown occurring again. Stress isn’t just a response to the circumstances of life, it’s a biological function and one that can be influenced by a range of behavioral patterns. This includes things like not getting enough sleep at night, smoking, drinking, or other substance use, not getting enough exercise and having a healthy diet, and even spending too much time on social media has been linked to increased stress as of late. Consider making the lifestyle changes above to see if you can reduce your feelings of stress, which in turn will make anxiety attacks and nervous breakdowns less likely. Do note that it doesn’t guarantee that you will stop experiencing them entirely.

Know when you need some space

When faced with the signs of impending stress, a lot of people simply think to “power through” in order to get on the other side of it, but even after you’re done with stressful stimuli and circumstances, their effect on the mind can linger. It’s better to prevent yourself from reaching this point by being more aware of the warning signs that an anxiety attack or nervous breakdown is coming. This can include things like changes in your appetite, your sleep pattern, new aches and pains that can’t be attributed to exercise or injury, the feeling of disengagement, and isolation.

Anyone can have a nervous breakdown, all it takes is the right combination of circumstances in most cases. However, you can also find the steps to recovery, and starting with the tips outlined above might help you on your way.