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health advisory Hospital Mental Health 2007-11-15 19:02:01

Seems like years ago you would hear of people having nervous breakdowns and going to mental hospitals, seems like today people just have "functioning" nervous breakdowns and nobody thinks anything. Back then it was hush hush and you would walk on egg shells not knowing what to say after that. Is it better today or was it better then, were the people any sicker than they are today.

Answer:

when I was a young child, my dad had a "nervous breakdown"

and had to go to the hospital. I was not allowed to visit him there, but he carved some really cool-looking mallard ducks out of wood while he was away. When he came home he asked lots of weird questions and made me feel oogy.

I later found out he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

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Mental breakdown (also known as nervous breakdown) is a non-medical term used to describe a sudden, acute attack of mental illness such as depression or anxiety. When used in common social discourse, the term often has pejorative connotations.

Specific cases are usually described as a "breakdown" only after a person becomes unable to function in day-to-day life due to mental illness. At that point the person's condition is advanced, and seeking professional aid is likely advisable.

Like the term 鈥渟anity,鈥?the terms "nervous breakdown" or "mental breakdown" have no medical definition and are not used in a clinical sense. However, the medical or personal problems precipitating a sudden breakdown may well benefit from professional medical or psychological treatment.