Life is a hardship, and rough seas could easily sink us if we are not ready to handle open waters. This is true for every sailor but mirrors existence’s complexity and overwhelming nature. We all come into this world the same way, and our upbringing and experiences, along with our personality and temperament, mould the resilience and fragility that we are.
Have you gone through a mental breakdown and wondered how to move past it? You are not alone. Many people struggle to get back on track, but there is a path to take that leads you to your best life.
What Is a Mental Breakdown?
A mental breakdown is when you experience extreme mental and emotional stress that impairs your ability to function in your day-to-day life. Sometimes your ability to cope with things is outweighed by the intensity of stress, and this tipping of balance breaks down our coping mechanisms.
Common symptoms include:
- Insomnia
- Muscle tension
- Depression
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of libido
- Trembling or shaking
- Increase in irritability
- Aches and pains
- Inability to concentrate
- Gastrointestinal symptoms
Other signs point to a mental breakdown, and these are experienced by millions of people around the world every year. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help.
Here is what to do after a mental breakdown.
1. Attend to Your Immediate Needs
After a mental breakdown, your body will relax and calm down. Once you feel this settle a bit, assess what your body needs. You may be hungry or thirsty, and by nourishing yourself, you will see an overall improvement in your body and mind. You are probably tired and need to rest, so make sure your day is free to do so.
Take a warm shower or bath to help calm the body, and then get into your most comfortable clothes and lie down. If you don’t feel like sleeping, read a book or watch a funny episode of your favourite tv show. Stay away from your computer or phone, and let your body rest.
2. See a Psychotherapist
As good as you are at overcoming a mental breakdown and coping with the aftermath, you sometimes need help getting past it. Your doctor can prescribe medication to alleviate symptoms but to get to the root problem and work on eliminating it, and you should seek the counsel of online psychotherapy.
This psychotherapist uses talk therapy to treat people with emotional problems and mental illness. Cognitive behaviour therapy is one of the main methods used and includes:
- Discussing symptoms with the patient and having them describe what they are feeling
- Teaching them coping and problem-solving skills to manage their stress and anxiety
- Demonstrating methods for calming the mind and body that they can practice at home
- Helping them to recognize and change thought patterns and behaviours that lead to their mental crisis
- Recommending lifestyle changes to positively affect the body, mind and spirit.
3. Get Back to Your Daily Routines
You can return to your life once you are at a normal baseline. Some aspects of our lives often cause mental issues, so when you start your routine, monitor what triggers your mood. This is a good time to restructure your routine to eliminate that which doesn’t serve you and add that which does. Here are a few ideas to implement into our life:
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Exercise
- Cooking
- Naps
- Breathwork
- Spending time outdoors
- Journaling
These and other positive activities help calm the mind and give you a healthy habit moving forward.
4. Listen to Your Body
Your body is an energetic, chemical machine that operates within its biology and beyond with an innate consciousness. What we eat, drink, breathe in and think affects us positively or negatively, and our bodies will send familiar signals that we can recognize immediately.
Pay attention to how your body reacts to different stimuli. It could be from a meal, a movie you are watching, or just thinking about a past event or future possibility. If you experience a negative reaction that could lead to another breakdown, stop what you are doing immediately and make a note of it.
Write it down, and soon you will have compiled a list of triggers you can avoid. You also should document things that create a positive effect so you have a tool kit to turn to when you feel unwell.
5. Seek professional help
Psychotherapists are experts in the human condition and want to help you on your quest for peace, so it is important to seek them out so you can recover quicker and not return to that debilitating state of mind.
This is what to do after a mental breakdown. Understanding what your body is going through and learning helpful recovery methods are vital to your well-being as you move past this event. Seek peace and love wherever you can and live your life fully, far away from the burdens and trauma.