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Nervous breakdown / Acute stress reaction
contents
- definition
- causes
- symptoms
- therapy
- Naturopathy during a nervous breakdown
definition
A clear medical definition of the colloquial term "nervous breakdown" is not available. It is the response to a traumatizing event most likely to be associated with neurotic, stress and somatoform disorders, according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). Here, the nervous breakdown falls into the category of adjustment disorders and includes symptoms such as the acute stress reaction (short-term nervous breakdown immediately after an event) or post-traumatic stress disorder (long-term mental or social impairment due to traumatic events).
The affected people literally collapse. It envelops a massive heaviness. Patients report a feeling of massive emptiness. Triggers can be long-lasting humiliation, bullying, sexual assault or even violence. Often, however, sudden events such as accidents or death news of close friends or relatives are the cause. Those affected fall down, cry and seem out of control.
causes
Traumatic events, which may underlie a nervous breakdown, are, for example, impressions of a serious traffic accident, a natural disaster or war experiences. But even personal fates such as rape or kidnapping are associated with such extreme mental stress that the sufferers often suffer a nervous breakdown. Furthermore, the loss of particularly close people, such as their own children, often has a traumatizing effect. The nervous breakdown, however, must not be based on corresponding extreme events, but sometimes supposedly more harmless experiences, such as persistent bullying or relationship stress, can trigger a mental overload. Whether someone suffers a nervous breakdown, therefore, is not only dependent on the lived events, but is closely related to the individual requirements. Personal coping strategies or options play a key role here.
Heavy fatalities such as the loss of close relatives can cause a nervous breakdown. (Image: Osterland / fotolia.com) symptoms
A nervous breakdown can be manifested by a variety of symptoms. For example, in the context of an acute stress disorder often a certain mental absence of those affected can be observed and the patients tend to irrational acts. They also show strong emotional fluctuations, with a change of intense grief, anger, aggression and indifference. Physical symptoms such as excessive sweating, palpitations, dizziness, nausea and vomiting may also be part of the symptoms. Some sufferers begin to tremble uncontrollably throughout the body in the acute phase and expire in wine cramps. Even long after the stressful event is over, so-called flashbacks can be seen, in which patients relive the situation again. It is not uncommon for you to try to avoid similar situations in order not to expose yourself to mental stress again. This usually involves significant restrictions in everyday life.
Patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder usually experience long-term dissociation (lack of connection or association between perception, memory, sensory impressions, etc.) and personality changes in addition to many of the symptoms mentioned above. Those affected are also increasingly prone to (auto-) aggressive behavior and suicide attempts. Their ability to engage in personal attachment is disturbed and they often develop concomitant depression. Rather nonspecific complaints such as nightmares and sleep disorders may also be part of the symptoms.
therapy
While a nervous breakdown in the form of the acute stress reaction often ceases without further therapeutic measures after a relatively short time (a few hours to a few days), the posttraumatic stress disorder usually requires a comprehensive therapy, which helps those affected to process the traumatic events , Psychotherapy is quite promising here, with either outpatient or inpatient treatment depending on the extent of the symptoms. Furthermore, the approaches of psychotherapy differ depending on the individual situation of those affected. For example, in some patients it is urgently necessary to stabilize their mental state before they can start trauma therapy or deal with the traumatic events.
In trauma therapy, repressed things are reprocessed. Image: WavebreakMediaMicro - fotolia An essential part of treatment in posttraumatic stress disorders are usually specially adapted variants of cognitive behavioral therapy in which the confrontation with the traumatic experiences also takes place (confrontation therapy). In addition, there are numerous other mostly highly specialized treatment approaches for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, which are used depending on the individual symptoms. Accompanying psychotropic drugs such as benzodiazepines (special sedatives) are sometimes used, but in view of the risk of side effects and the risk of dependence long-term use is highly critical. Also used is the trauma therapy. In this attempt is to transport experience from the cold storage in the warm storage of the brain. As a result, experiences are reprocessed.
Naturopathy during a nervous breakdown
Naturopathy offers some promising approaches to alleviate acute stress reactions, for example based on soothing herbal supplements (valerian, hops) or the use of relaxation techniques (autogenic training, progressive muscle relaxation). These are also attributed a preventive effect. If patients feel close to nervous breakdown, they can achieve a certain protective effect with the help of relaxation techniques and herbal preparations. Homeopathy also offers a very effective prevention option with potassium phosphoricum. However, all these naturopathic prevention options require that an imminent nervous breakdown be recognized early.
Not infrequently, sufferers but after an unexpected traumatic event relatively suddenly suffer a nervous breakdown. Here is only the possibility of a subsequent treatment. Which naturopathic procedures are used here depends strongly on the individual symptoms. In the case of long-term complaints, it is often combined with psychotherapeutic approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy. (Fp)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)
Picture 1: Gerd Altmann