<h2>Definition of &quot;nervous breakdown&quot;</h2>
<p>The &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; could be defined as:</p>
<pre><code>the onset of the first symptoms of anxiety/depression caused by a no further capacity to cope with stressful life events
</code></pre>
<h2>Use of the concept for research and treatment</h2>
<p>To me, the term &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; is very useful to describe the process of entering into a phase of anxiety/depression, and catching the mechanism at play: indeed, anxiety and depression are often caused by overwhelming enduring stress (here [<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1</a>], and here [<a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2</a>]), that the individual has no resource to cope with (something the term &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; captures very well).</p>
<p>Highly neurotic people may be more prone to depression because less able to cope with prolonged exposure to stress, which translates into a &quot;nervous breakdown&quot;.</p>
<p>In experimental research or for treatment, we could identify which factors are associated with the &quot;nervous breadown&quot;, in cohorts of individuals, or in one patient having regular episodes of &quot;nervous breakown&quot;.</p>
<p>These factors could the series of stressful life events endured by the patients during the period preceding the &quot;nervous breakdown&quot;, the un-optimal emotion regulation techniques used by the patients to cope with them (including lack of emotional self-awareness), the un-optimal life habits which could have facilitate the onset of the breadown such as lack of relaxing time or lack of sleep, etc.</p>
<p>Concerning research, the results could inform us better of the many factors giving rise to an episode of depression/anxiety, given that these disorders are extremely heterogenous.</p>
<p>Concerning treatment, after this identification, the patient could autonomously learn to intervene by themselves on the factors.</p>
<h2>Depression/anxiety and “nervous breakdown” as distinct constructs</h2>
<p>The term &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; is not redundant because anxiety/depression refers to states (moods), while &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; refers to a process/mechanism.</p>
<p>Depression/anxiety could, in line with the current research literature, be separately seen as the chronic mood that follows the nervous breakdown, but disconnected with the initial stressors responsible for its onset.</p>
<p>The factors associated with anxiety/depression could be seen not as external stressful life events, but as habits and thoughts scheme that make the &quot;first symptoms of anxiety/depression&quot; (i.e. the &quot;nervous breakdown&quot;) last and aggravate over time (withdrawal from social support, conflicts with peers, substance abuse, sleep deprivation, etc.).</p>
<p><strong>Important:</strong> Not saying that depression/anxiety are always related to a &quot;nervous breakdown&quot;. Depression/anxiety have a lot of different factors, even including uniquely biological ones, like some forms of inflammations.</p>
<h2>Further note</h2>
<p>The term &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; allegorically expresses the fact that the human mind, like a car, needs repair when it was broken after difficulties.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-07T21:58:51.390Z
Again, there are a lot of bold claims without corroborated evidence. We have a strict policy that [all answers should be backed up with reliable references](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/q/201/7604) so that the answer can be independently verified, regardless of the reader's/answerer's background.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-07T10:27:02.963Z
2023-05-07T12:44:38.700Z
2023-05-07T12:44:38.700Z
Starckman
<p>Why the concept of &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; (in French <em>crise de nerfs</em>) has been discarded in the field of psychology (although some medicine and psychology researchers argue for its usefulness)?</p>
<p>This situation has been well described in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder#Definition" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia article</a>.</p>
<p>I understand that &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; has been basically replaced by &quot;anxiety&quot; and &quot;depression&quot; (which are both associated to the symptoms that people using the term &quot;nervous breakdown&quot; think of such as feelings of despair, irritability, restlessness, and even violence).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-04T22:34:30.533Z
Reading through this, there seems to be a lot of assumptions without corroborating evidence. One example is *"highly neurotic people may be more prone to depression because less able to cope with prolonged exposure to stress, which translates into a 'nervous breakdown'"*. To me, there can be cases of stress, anxiety and depression among those who score low on neuroticism. Please can you provide some information on where you got the information to make such claims? I would be interested to read them
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-05T02:32:47.453Z
Depression is often caused by (chronic) stress. Neurotic people are more vulnerable to depression, and less resilient to stress. So we can make the assumption that "highly neurotic people may be more prone to depression because less able to cope with prolonged exposure to stress, which translates into a 'nervous breakdown"
Starckman
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-05T02:33:09.740Z
@ChrisRogers "To me, there can be cases of stress, anxiety and depression among those who score low on neuroticism." This is not what I learned, but if there is evidence that it is the case, ok. Maybe those are not the most frequent situation though.
Starckman
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-07T10:30:48.603Z
@ChrisRogers I moved my personal analysis into an answer. My question was downvoted, I don't know the reason why. Anyway, the personal analysis being moved out renders the question clearer.
Starckman
<depression><anxiety><nervous-systems>
Why the concept of "nervous breakdown" has been discarded by psychologists?
Starckman
# Why the concept of "nervous breakdown" has been discarded by psychologists?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-05-04)

Why the concept of "nervous breakdown" (in French *crise de nerfs*) has been discarded in the field of psychology (although some medicine and psychology researchers argue for its usefulness)?

This situation has been well described in the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder#Definition).

I understand that "nervous breakdown" has been basically replaced by "anxiety" and "depression" (which are both associated to the symptoms that people using the term "nervous breakdown" think of such as feelings of despair, irritability, restlessness, and even violence).

**Tags:** depression, anxiety, nervous-systems

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Reading through this, there seems to be a lot of assumptions without corroborating evidence. One example is *"highly neurotic people may be more prone to depression because less able to cope with prolonged exposure to stress, which translates into a 'nervous breakdown'"*. To me, there can be cases of stress, anxiety and depression among those who score low on neuroticism. Please can you provide some information on where you got the information to make such claims? I would be interested to read them  
> **username_0**: Depression is often caused by (chronic) stress. Neurotic people are more vulnerable to depression, and less resilient to stress. So we can make the assumption that "highly neurotic people may be more prone to depression because less able to cope with prolonged exposure to stress, which translates into a 'nervous breakdown"  
> **username_0**: @ChrisRogers "To me, there can be cases of stress, anxiety and depression among those who score low on neuroticism." This is not what I learned, but if there is evidence that it is the case, ok. Maybe those are not the most frequent situation though.  
> **username_0**: @ChrisRogers I moved my personal analysis into an answer. My question was downvoted, I don't know the reason why. Anyway, the personal analysis being moved out renders the question clearer.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2023-05-07. Score: 0

Definition of "nervous breakdown"
The "nervous breakdown" could be defined as:
the onset of the first symptoms of anxiety/depression caused by a no further capacity to cope with stressful life events

Use of the concept for research and treatment
To me, the term "nervous breakdown" is very useful to describe the process of entering into a phase of anxiety/depression, and catching the mechanism at play: indeed, anxiety and depression are often caused by overwhelming enduring stress (here [1], and here [2]), that the individual has no resource to cope with (something the term "nervous breakdown" captures very well).
Highly neurotic people may be more prone to depression because less able to cope with prolonged exposure to stress, which translates into a "nervous breakdown".
In experimental research or for treatment, we could identify which factors are associated with the "nervous breadown", in cohorts of individuals, or in one patient having regular episodes of "nervous breakown".
These factors could the series of stressful life events endured by the patients during the period preceding the "nervous breakdown", the un-optimal emotion regulation techniques used by the patients to cope with them (including lack of emotional self-awareness), the un-optimal life habits which could have facilitate the onset of the breadown such as lack of relaxing time or lack of sleep, etc.
Concerning research, the results could inform us better of the many factors giving rise to an episode of depression/anxiety, given that these disorders are extremely heterogenous.
Concerning treatment, after this identification, the patient could autonomously learn to intervene by themselves on the factors.
Depression/anxiety and “nervous breakdown” as distinct constructs
The term "nervous breakdown" is not redundant because anxiety/depression refers to states (moods), while "nervous breakdown" refers to a process/mechanism.
Depression/anxiety could, in line with the current research literature, be separately seen as the chronic mood that follows the nervous breakdown, but disconnected with the initial stressors responsible for its onset.
The factors associated with anxiety/depression could be seen not as external stressful life events, but as habits and thoughts scheme that make the "first symptoms of anxiety/depression" (i.e. the "nervous breakdown") last and aggravate over time (withdrawal from social support, conflicts with peers, substance abuse, sleep deprivation, etc.).
Important: Not saying that depression/anxiety are always related to a "nervous breakdown". Depression/anxiety have a lot of different factors, even including uniquely biological ones, like some forms of inflammations.
Further note
The term "nervous breakdown" allegorically expresses the fact that the human mind, like a car, needs repair when it was broken after difficulties.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Again, there are a lot of bold claims without corroborated evidence. We have a strict policy that [all answers should be backed up with reliable references](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/q/201/7604) so that the answer can be independently verified, regardless of the reader's/answerer's background.  

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