Tag Archives: breakdown

Helping Your Friend or Family Member through a Psychotic Episode

Watching a loved one go through psychosis is a heart-breaking process, especially for parents. Not knowing what to do compounds the problem and causes more stress, both for the sufferer and the family member alike. Knowledge is power and there are many things that family and friends can do to help. 1. Find out as much about psychosis as you can. Knowing the typical behavior patterns of a person going through a psychotic episode will assist you to recognize the early signs of the condition, seek earlier intervention, and develop your own set of coping skills to better deal with … Continue reading →

Britney’s Meltdown

And you though that Lindsay was the only one with problems… Using the line: “Oops! She did it again,” seems a bit trite at this point, but it pretty much sums up what happened a couple of days ago when Britney Spears voluntarily spilled her guts to OK! Magazine. The ugly incident is now making headlines around the world. According to the magazine’s editor, staff members reportedly “spent a heartbreaking day with Britney Spears and witnessed first-hand an emotional cry for help that will leave you shocked and sad.” The statement comes a day after TMZ.com reported that the pop … Continue reading →

Inoculating yourself against a breakdown

Wouldn’t it be great if we could somehow take steps to prevent ourselves having a breakdown? As we read in Could YOU have a breakdown? emotional collapse can happen to anyone given the right circumstances. So what can we do to maximize our mental health, just as we try to improve our physical health? First of all, we need to understand that trying to inoculate ourselves against a breakdown is just that: inoculation. Procedures such as inoculation work in most cases but it doesn’t guarantee that you definitely won’t get sick from any given disease. However, it is definitely worth … Continue reading →

Could YOU have a breakdown?

There isn’t a person alive who is so strong, both physically and emotionally, that they are impervious to having a breakdown. Mental collapse can happen to anyone. Yet not everyone will experience clinical anxiety, depression, and other emotional disorders during the course of their lifetime. Why is that? Most often, the ability to life to a ripe old age without incurring a major emotional hiccup is due to luck. Some people are simply fortunate enough to go through their life without serious trauma which would precipitate a clinical mental condition. However, one of the major factors in determining whether or … Continue reading →

Recovery from a Breakdown (8)

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In our continuing series in recovering from breakdown, we will look at the power of counting your blessings. When your world has been turned upside down by mental illness, it is easy to lose sight of what is positive about your life. And no matter how sick you are, or how far away recovery seems, there are still positive things in your life. These are the things that we must hold onto during our darkest hours. “Well!” you might say. “I have very little to be happy about. I am so sick, I can barely function!” That may well be … Continue reading →

Recovery from a Breakdown (7)

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In our continuing series on recovering from a breakdown, we will look at the many benefits of helping others while trying to recover. Feel like you can’t help yourself, let alone help others? That’s a common comment among recoverers. But not only is it possible, it will help you to recover more quickly. Read on! When a person has a breakdown it may manifest in many ways. There may be moderate or severe depression, crippling anxiety, the hallucinations and voices that are the hallmark of schizophrenia, the routines and rituals of OCD. Whatever the form of the breakdown, we are … Continue reading →

Depression—Symptoms and Treatment (2)

“Tom’s depressed because Katie’s gone away and won’t be able to come to his party tonight”. “I’m so depressed because I spent the whole day shopping for a present for Kyle and I couldn’t find anything!” Like many psychiatric terms, the word “depression” is often used in everyday language to express a normal, everyday, human experience. Clinical depression is, however, not a normal, everyday human experience, yet it is surprisingly common in the community. But, unlike the above examples, true depression cannot be quickly alleviated by a quick shot of retail therapy or a trip to the cinema with a … Continue reading →