by Jeannette Payne

Created on: May 09, 2011   Last Updated: May 11, 2011

A nervous breakdown is a serious medical condition that requires treatment. The actual term ‘nervous breakdown’ is not a medical one but one that is used by the general public referring to a group of mental illnesses.

A nervous breakdown includes those mental illnesses that remove a person from his social role, those in which a person experiences depression, or even the illnesses in which a person has thoughts or feelings that are not within the realms of reality. These illnesses are usually as a result of high levels of stress for long periods of time.

These medical conditions often leave a person unable to function in various aspects of their life such as at work and in the personal part of life. It is important that the symptoms are recognized early on before too much damage is done.

There are three different groups of symptoms that a person may display – emotional, behavioral and physical. The types of symptoms usually come from all three groups for any particular person, but the specific symptom and the severity range will differ with each individual.

Early Emotional Signs

There is a wide variety of emotional symptoms that can count as early signs of a nervous breakdown. These signs can also be symptoms of other medical conditions but should not be taken lightly in any case. Pertaining to the nervous breakdown, the following should be watched for closely.

• The patient may feel anxious and somewhat depressed.
• The individual may have trouble thinking clearly, become confused, and have trouble with making decisions.
• Paranoid thoughts about others start to appear, as do seeing objects or people that aren’t present and hearing voices.
• Sudden feelings of guilt as well as not using proper judgment start becoming noticeable.
• Feeling invincible and feeling hopeless are at two opposite ends of the scale but either one can be present as an early sign of a nervous breakdown.

Early Behavioral Signs

The numbers of behavioral signs that are exhibited early on are limited but can damage the person, his reputation and his relationships.

• The patient may display strong fits of anger or even violence.
• The individual may exhibit strange behavior in public areas such as odd body movements or even to the extreme of undressing themselves.
• The most common early behavioral sign of a nervous breakdown is the mood swing. The individual may change

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