Stress and Nervous Breakdown Explained
A Book Review of Falling Apart – Living With Stress Breakdown
Sep 23, 2009
Falling Apart – Living with Stress Breakdown was first published in 1989 and then re-published in 1992. This may suggest that it is now outdated, but a quick internet check will reveal that there has been very little else written on the subject of nervous breakdown or mental breakdown – in other words, stress breakdown, which the authors offer as the new and better term for this crippling illness.
Furthermore, it is one of the few books that breaks free from academia to look at this psychological problem from a survivor’s perspective. There are three detailed case studies interpolated in the text, told in the words of the victims, as they reveal their stress causes and stress symptoms, the breakdown experience, their slow recuperation, adjustment, and finally, a recovery from their breakdown.
The Authors of Falling Apart – Living With Stress Breakdown
Both authors have clinical experience in the field of psychology in Australia. Michael Epstein completed his training in psychiatry at the University of Rochester in New York. He returned to Australia, went into private practice, then became founding director of the crisis service at Austin Hospital in Melbourne, and was also an associate in the Department of Psychiatry at Melbourne University.
Sue Hosking is regarded as one of Australia’s foremost experts in the field of stress breakdown, particularly within the realm of academia. She worked as a school psychologist for many years before moving to private practice where her work with people who have suffered breakdown due to work pressures has contributed greatly to the content of this book.
What is a Stress Breakdown or Nervous Breakdown?
The authors distinguish stress breakdown from burnout, depression, work pressure and extreme stress itself. Stress is always an underlying factor or cause for a breakdown – stress from loss, fear or from mental exhaustion, usually accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and frustration. Depression, burnout and symptoms of stress can often be warning signs.
Nevertheless, stress breakdown, also termed a "nervous breakdown." is an unmistakable event. It is a final psychological “snapping.” In less severe cases, the person can mask the symptoms and give an appearance of coping until a point is reached when it becomes obvious and apparent that something is seriously amiss. But many others experience a super-charged moment – what the authors describe as “an explosion of intense emotion, crying, raging, or shaking with fear.” It can also manifest itself in a blanking out as if the brain has fused; a period of total disorientation and fearful confusion.
Often the victim’s need to preserve dignity and their pretense of ability to cope go out the window: breakdown victims can end up crouching under desks, running out of meetings crying, or hurling “point-of-no-return” abuses at bosses or co-workers. The term used as the book title is a particularly apt description of the phenomenon – the person has a sense of "falling apart."
Stress Treatment and Coping with Not Coping
Stress management is no longer an issue for a person who experiences a breakdown; the time where stress management could have helped is long past. Stress treatment is now called for and the authors say that appropriate treatment is not always easy to find. It is to be hoped that this is one area where the book may be out of date, as wider acceptance and knowledge of the condition spreads in the community and medical fraternity. It cites cases where the victims have approached their general practitioner as first port of call and been scorned, or told to get their act together or were merely given pills.
The authors stress that the urgency of finding suitable help and support comes when the victim is at his or her lowest energy levels and organisational ability. They must overcome what for many (especially men) is the shame of exposure, of not coping, of becoming “useless.” Self-acceptance, self-understanding and self-nurturing are the victim’s first needs and steps towards recovery. Then they must seek a caring, empathetic listener with expertise in the field who will be able to effect change. Later, other professionals may need to be involved – marriage counselors, career advisers, psychiatrists, even lawyers.
Mental Breakdown Recovery
Perhaps the most valuable section of Falling Apart deals with breakdown recovery. The book offers hope and advice for sufferers. The chapter headings speak volumes: "Spreading Your Wings;" "How Family and Friends Can Help" and "Getting Your Life Back Together."
All in all, this book still represents an excellent resource for victim of stress breakdown and their families. It is also extremely useful for those who feel so pressured at work or in the family that they fear a breakdown. There is a body of thought that questions whether nervous breakdown is a true medical condition. This book should quash any doubts and reassure victims that they are not alone nor are their problems universally discounted.
 |
