Warning Signs of a Mental Breakdown That YOU Should Take Seriously!
Our psyche is not an endless, indestructible source of strength. It's more like a muscle: Not enough stimulation is bad, but overuse can have serious consequences. The treacherous thing about a mental breakdown is that it creeps up on us. Ironically, it's often the ones who swear up and down that they'll never fall victim to burnout or stress-related breakdowns that are actually affected. If this sounds familiar to you, this article will show you 10 reliable signs that you definitely need to be more mindful of your mental health.
1. You can’t get anything done anymore
Too much of everything often manifests itself as an inability to get anything useful or productive done. If you are spreading yourself too thin in every aspect of your life, you won’t be able to produce results that you’re happy with. That’s when stress gets the better of us and proper time management becomes a far-off dream.
2. Your To Do list is getting longer and longer
Procrastination is an evil that is unhelpful, even at the best of times. If we’re in a bad way mentally, and things are already starting to feel out of control, then putting things off is the straw that will break the camel’s back. If you find that more and more tasks are ending up on your To Do list and your responsibilities are piling up in front of you, you’re in the danger zone. Putting off what’s urgent just leads to more of a blockage and we end up under an even greater amount of pressure, and that’s unnecessary.
3. Bad habits are worming their way in
There are lots of practical mental crutches that give us temporary relief, saving us from stressful situations. The number 1 drug of choice, alcohol, is the most common. But excessive PC gaming, eating, sport or indulging in a shopping spree are other ways that people try to anesthetize themselves. All of these ways we try to compensate are pure escapism from our daily life for when it seems to awful or heavy for us to face sober, awake or on an empty stomach. Sadly, all of these strategies do work well in the short term. Our brain remembers this and then the intervals at which it suggests we turn to the bottle, or the chocolate, or something stronger become more and more often. But the desired effects of these methods will also be lower and lower. That’s how we end up in a vicious cycle that will cause us more stress than we perhaps had before.
4. Everything seems pointless to you
The “What’s the point?” manner of thinking is typical for people on the brink of collapse. If you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel anymore, then you’re heading straight towards depression or burnout. In an ideal world, we would be able to lighten our own moods quite well with the small pleasures in life, like looking forward to the weekend, a family party or your next holiday. This anticipation keeps us going. If we’re lacking in the motivation department, then things quickly start to look a lot bleaker.
5. Health problems won’t go away
Stress is the best way to kill your immune system. It manages to guarantee that we’re going to catch every cold and virus that we come across. But minor accidents and injuries can also be a result of too much going on in our lives. This is our body’s way of telling us our mind needs a bit of care and attention. The brain itself can’t actually feel pain, so if you’re not recovering as well as you should be and you’re constantly aching or injured, then it might actually be more to do with your mind than your body.
6. You’re always looking for a distraction
When the carousel of life is already spinning at breakneck speed, many people make the mistake of giving it additional momentum. Many people are not even aware that this spiral leads them straight to the abyss. But some even deliberately accept these effects. It’s almost like a kind of frenzy, they’re busy distracting themselves from the difficult parts of their lives and trying to keep all their plates spinning, cramming their weekends and evenings full of plans. Life in the fast lane just isn’t enough for them. They’re looking for the ultimate thrill, the adrenaline rush of a complete system failure.
7. Everything has lost its meaning
The difference between burning passion and burnout is the amount of joy something brings. It is the essence of success and determines in both our professional and private lives whether or not we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor. There are people out there who get enormous satisfaction from a 100-hour work week, and there are people who would find even small tasks tiring and pointless. If you no longer see any meaning in your life and everything seems dull or pointless, then you’re dangerously close to breaking point.
8. You can’t seem to string a coherent thought together
If distractions aren’t working anymore and the other coping strategies are all but spent, we’re left alone, tired, with our thoughts at the end of the day. If, after all of that, your thoughts are running in circles and just won’t make sense, then burnout is hiding right around the corner. If our minds are buzzing like a beehive, it’s a sign that there’s too much going on and we’re mentally overloaded.
9. You avoid socializing
Withdrawing from the world is one of the known symptoms of depression. But it is also a precursor, and over forms of mental overload can often also bring out this habit, it’s not just depression. We need to grab every free second we have to try and get a bit of rest. And these breaks them become longer and longer periods of voluntary isolation, alarmingly so.
10. Mood swings become more frequent
From up on cloud nine to the depths of hell, alternating seemingly almost every second. If you’re not the victim of out-of-control hormones, then it’s hard to imagine anything other than complete mental overload could be behind these symptoms. We probably don’t notice our emotional ups and downs as much as the poor folk around us, the ones helplessly at the mercy of our antics. Emotional overload will creep through any crack that it finds to get some kind of temporary relief. Breaking into hysterics, anger or despair are common displays of an overburdened mind.
Today’s Conclusion: Don’t ignore your mind’s cry for help
Our mind, unlike our body, can’t make its complaints be heard. It works in the background, quietly, but it can still suffer. Our fast-paced lives and the constant challenge of trying to balance work with family are sadly the perfect conditions for a breakdown. Be careful, and don’t take these things too lightly. It’s exactly the people who are committed, eager to join in and immune to overwhelm that end up being the easy targets for burnout. If you get the feeling that everything is becoming too much for you, it’s best to hit the brakes a bit. Once a mental breakdown takes hold of you, it won’t be easy to shake. That’s all for today. Thank you, see you soon.