How to Rebuild Your Life After a Breakdown

Nervous Breakdown: What Does It Mean and How Does It Happen?

The term 'nervous breakdown' is not actually a clinical one. It is a common term that is used when someone essentially shuts down and is unable to function and cope with the demands of daily life. A breakdown can occur as the end result of months or years of depression or it may follow a significant trauma. For some, it may literally occur without a single identifiable cause, which can make it more shocking and difficult to treat. It is an acute and often incapacitating experience; treatment can also be particularly challenging. If you have suffered from a breakdown and are in the process of rebuilding your life, there are various things you can do to make things less stressful and to help ensure that a breakdown doesn't occur again.

Getting Back Your Confidence

You may feel poorly about yourself after a breakdown and may wonder to yourself: 'How could I let this happen?' It can be challenging to deal with guilt and low self esteem after a breakdown and these feelings of sadness and worthlessness can inevitably lead you back towards a breakdown. Areas you may wish to focus on include:

• Positive aspects about yourself
• Qualities that others appreciate in you
• Activities that bring you joy and self-worth
• Compliments and praise for each success
• Kindness and forgiveness when you can't meet a goal

Rebuilding Your Life

Your life encompasses many areas such as work, health, family and friends. Although it may seem simplistic, it can be helpful to make a list of the areas in your life that you feel are damaged and warrant repair. Think about the ones that are most immediate and important and try to address these first. By breaking your life down into smaller, more manageable areas, you will hopefully feel less overwhelmed to address each part.

Mending Relationships

A breakdown can affect various areas of your life, including relationships. One difficult area is communication, because during your breakdown, family and friends may have been confused about your experience. You may have withdrawn from relationships and isolated yourself. Some people find that many friends and family members remained supportive while others pulled away and together, you will need to mend a damaged relationship. Sharing the emotions and struggles you experienced can be helpful in that friends and family are less likely to personally take any uncharacteristic actions you may have shown during your breakdown. It can help to:

• Communicate your care for that person as a valued individual in your life
• Talk about what happened and how it affected both of you
• Share any fears about rebuilding the relationship
• Renew your commitment to nurturing the relationship

Financial Worries

You may have been unable to work during your breakdown or if you continued to work, you might have found that your work suffered immensely. For some extreme cases, job loss may even have occurred or if leave was unpaid, you could be struggling to cope with the financial challenges of rebuilding your life. It is often helpful to discuss your situation with a financial advisor, who can provide options for approaching debts and various bills that you may be struggling to address.

Other options may be to obtain government assistance, particularly if you do not yet feel well enough to return to full-time work. If you are able to obtain financial support from friends and family members, consider carefully whether you are able to repay the money and if any monetary exchange will negatively impact the relationship. If you continued working during your breakdown and your work quality suffered, it is wise to be honest and open with your boss and colleagues about your breakdown. Certainly it can be difficult to share mental health conditions, particularly with the unfortunate stigma often attached. Most people, however, should appreciate your willingness, drive and effort to move past your breakdown and do your best at work.

Medical Treatment

During your breakdown, you might have been diagnosed with a medical illness such as depression, for example. Alternately, you may have already received a diagnosis for a mental health condition. Your doctor might have prescribed antidepressants or specific medications for anxiety and as such, you may need to remain on medication while you address and 'pick up' various aspects of your life that suffered during your breakdown. If you are feeling better or back to normal, the temptation may be to abruptly stop all medication. This can, however, be potentially disastrous as withdrawal symptoms can occur if you stop medication suddenly and you may trigger another breakdown. Be sure to speak with your doctor about any desire to stop the medication you may be taking and he or she will likely advise a slow reduction in the dose to help prevent withdrawal symptoms and anxiety.

Many people have likened a breakdown to a fall down a deep, dark and lonely hole but once you have hit the bottom and begun your climb, you will hopefully be able to mend the parts of your life that have suffered and you can look forward to each day once again.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Mood Journal lets you track your mood with guided questions and get personalised coping suggestions. Try it now →