Is there such a thing as a nervous breakdown?!

Is there such a thing as a nervous breakdown?

What is it and how does it make you feel?

It's a sort of sudden burst of depression or anxiety...which isn't just being a bit sad or a bit anxious...it can be severe enough to the point where someone will try to kill themself or someone else. It's essentially a loss of contact with reality. In most cases, it's best classified as a dissociative episode--that's when your active mind can't handle what's going on, so your subconscious takes over--or a psychosis. This has happened to me many, many times. For me, it's usually brought on by extreme stress, depression, or anger.

I know quite a few people who've had breakdowns...some of them become violent, a few have even hallucinated. These are people who've had to cope with a mental illness or severe loss over a period of time that's too long for them to handle...so they sort of "break," I guess you could say.

It pretty much comes down to this: too many things are going on for your brain to handle them, so you lose your regular perception of reality. The world around you or your own mind aren't doing what you want them to do...so you seperate yourself from them.

That's really the best way to describe what it is...how it feels is almost indescribable and not in a good way. I'm aware at the beginning of any breakdowns I've had, so I'm aware I'm essentially going crazy, but I can't do anything to stop it. I usually blackout the rest of the breakdown (because my subconscious is taking over), so I can't really describe that part to you. I've been told I act very...scary. When I'm not catatonic or trying to hit my head against things, I'm wandering around aimlessly...sometimes into oncoming traffic if I'm outside. Once, I apparently even had a seizure.

Sorry, this is the worst answer ever for this.