What is a Nervous Breakdown?

I wish everyone who is dealing with strong emotions and difficulties in life some future insight that may shift things for all of you. Reading these posts strongly confirms the need for universal health care for everyone on the planet. Having to deal with things on your own when you don't have any help can seem impossible.

It doesn't make sense to me that we have so many trained mental health professionals all across the planet and no way to connect people to the help that they need. Love to all of you!

I have a bipolar friend who's starting a new job tomorrow. She's been excited about it, but now that it's the night before she's nervous and sobbing. What can I do to help?

I constantly think my husband is cheating on me. I have been to two psychologists and it still hasn't stopped. I take Zoloft. I just want to be normal.

My emotions have been a mess since my abortion a few months ago. (Please no flak for this. I do not need to be criticized right now.) I'm not getting much support from my friends or some of my family (didn't tell all of my family) or the father. He didn't really "get it" until a mutual friend talked to him. Which hurts, because he should listen to me and not someone else.

Anyway, he said that he felt bad not knowing when I was having problems even though I told him all the time. Then he just tells me to snap out of it.

I've suffered quite a few nervous breakdowns since the abortion. I've had uncontrollable crying, hyperventilating, loss of appetite, and suicidal thoughts.

I am going to therapy but every two weeks for half an hour, adding up to an hour a month! I wish I could find someone else, but this is the only therapist at my clinic that takes my insurance. Everything is so hard and I wish I had more people who cared about me.

I have been a nervous breakdown patient for about five years. I am a student and life has been very tough for me. I can't handle even simple tasks and responsibilities. I get depressed even by the smallest things.

I am sure I am suffering from a nervous breakdown because I suffer from similar symptoms listed in trustworthy sources. I consulted a psychologist before I knew I had this ailment. But he said I was fine and asked me to attend a few sittings. So I tried to find the answer on my own and arrived at this conclusion.

Please don't tell me my assumption might be wrong because I checked on this in several ways. Even a friend of mine who is confirmed to have nervous breakdowns has remarkably similar symptoms as mine. I kindly request professional advice to help me get over this.

After reading the posts on here I just wanted to pass on what has helped me.

Vitamin B and Magnesium: Lifts mood, helps with stress, anxiety, sleep, energy. etc.

Bach Flower remedies. Rescue remedy is great for overall anxiety/can’t cope feelings, however I found a combination of Bach’s Sweet Chestnut and Gorse help with feelings of hopelessness, despair and desperation. If you have anxiety also, try Aspen for unknown fears and mimulus for known fears.

Vitamins and flower remedies won’t solve all your problems but will make you feel able to cope and endure day to day when you have no strength left.

EFT: Emotional Freedom Technique. I can’t recommend this enough. It’s very simple and easy to do and can get to root causes of issues a lot quicker than any other ‘therapy’ I’ve had. You can look up practitioners in your area. If you can’t afford to see a practitioner at this stage, you can look online. There are a lot of practitioners online who have posted free demonstrations that you can tap along with and they can help.

St. John’s Wort: I found this great for depression and lifting my mood. I needed 900mg/3 tabs a day but that depends on your circumstances. Do not take this with prescribed antidepressants or certain medications, however. Do your research before taking it.

As some others have mentioned, I have also come to find praying for help and healing and reading the bible has really worked for me and I wish I had understood this years ago. If you are interested I strongly recommend listening to Joyce Meyer podcasts. Joyce has had a terrible childhood and her story of how she has overcome the effects of this is inspirational if you are suffering. Her testimony is online. Her book ‘Battlefield of the Mind’ is also well worth a read. Joel Osteen’s podcasts are also really full of hope, positivity, motivation and uplifting and keep your mind occupied with positivity when you feel the opposite. I also found books like “The Secret” to be positive and helpful when trying to get out of a dark place.

I can genuinely say that if I had to give my younger self advice, I would say to do all of the above. It would have saved me years of misery. I doesn’t happen overnight but these are all tools that help you cope, heal and get stronger day by day.

Perfect love hath no fear. My heart goes out to you all. Born as babies, we are at the mercy of others. At zero minutes and counting, our eyes open, our arms stretch forth, we cry om longing for comfort, to be held and loved and cared for. We touch, feel, smell, taste, hear. We are innocent. We have yet to form a mind of our own, depending only upon others for care and love. We hear voices in our ears when we cry, giving us assurance and comfort that it will be all right and our parents are here for us. We become calm and listen for that voice that brings peace.

As we begin to grow, we watch, we see, we listen, we feel. We still need that voice of peace and comfort and assurance. As we begin to form a mind and awareness, a process of elimination occurs. We begin to recognize faces, smells, touch and that, familiar comforting voice. We still don't have a clue as to what the world and life are about. We're learning and going by sight.

Now I have a question for you? What was the first emotion you can remember and how old were you? I was six and my first emotion I remember in my mind was fear. I didn't need to remember love or peace; they didn't scare me. My next emotion was guilt. At age six, I remember that. The fear was from my father, whom I trusted. He was a drinker. All the peace I once had known had changed and fear entered my mind. My brother, sister and mother all lived in fear. We had to run for our lives, spending nights in empty houses to hide from him when he would drink.

The first guilt was at age six, when my sister came in my room naked and tried to have sex with me. I knew something wasn't right but didn't know how to explain it. All I could tell my mom was that she lay on me. I believe she might have been abused also because she was only 12 at the time. At age nine, I was waking up in the night thinking I was going to die. I was worried about my mother and fearing for her. At age 16, I was thumbing for a ride and was picked up taken to a vacant field and sexually abused and dropped off.

I met a girl, fell in love and she broke my heart. She was life to me. I told myself it would not be fair to love anyone else if I couldn't love someone as much as her. So I basically told myself I couldn't love. What was left in life for me? I became a loner, drug user and drinker. I didn't love myself and could see only the outside and nothing on the inside. I allowed myself to be used, and abused myself. It didn't matter who I let myself have sex with, but it was with women only.

I searched and searched, trying to find trust and something to hold on to while living in fear and guilt. I am 58 years old now. I don't ask you to believe in God; that's your choice. I still get depressed, and have anxiety but God is my hope and he is real. He is truth. Please, please trust me. Read his word, and you won't find him – he will find you. God bless.

What is this? I came on here because I think that a family member is having a breakdown and I am floored by the misery that I am seeing. I sincerely hope that everyone who has posted here has felt better after getting it out, but that is not enough.

Please, for those of you considering suicide: get help!

Yes some of us are in horrible situations, but we are all (unless you really are Hitler or an evil serial killer) worth it.

Back on topic, breakdown. My relative has possibly just had one, if it is not a stroke or physical thing. I do know that they need TLC, and I plan on giving as much of that as I can, without destroying myself. We all need TLC; we deserve it!

I don't want to sound like a Pollyanna, or even get religious here because personally, I am currently suffering from a crisis in my religious/spiritual faith, and let me tell you that is something that I never thought that I could even deal with. I am dealing with it and it sucks but I know that things will get better. See? I still have a little faith.

Look on the bright side? Nah. But I can tell you that each and every one of us who posts here will one day in the future be glad that we are alive. Life isn't supposed to be so hard.

For the 13 year old, and others who are carrying burdens that are too heavy, I will go ahead and say this, (OK I am getting religious but it really does work), Go ahead and ask God, or Christ, to carry your cross for you. Let go and let God as they used to say in AA.You don't have to do that if you really don't want to, but I promise you that it works whether I believe it or not. And then reach out by calling 211, or somewhere that you can find another human-being, and tell them that you need a little help.

My relative cannot cope with technology and passwords after suffering the loss of their home in a natural disaster. I don't know if it is a breakdown or not, but they are in the hospital right now because there is something really wrong.

The doctor said that aside from medical, it could be "stress". If that is stress, I'd hate to see what a nervous breakdown looks like and yes I am traumatized from dealing with this myself, and I am avidly pursuing caregiver support.

Talk to someone. Remember you are not alone. A support group helped me.

I sit in a little room all day. I cannot seem to get over anxieties and thoughts that cripple me. I grew up in a verbally abusive/physically abusive family and had to recently return to live with them because of tough times. I have a shotgun in my closet. They do not know it's there. They seem to get more angry with me now that I have resorted to being withdrawn.

I am so confused from all the verbally angry suggestions my family gives me that I do not know what to do. I am not eating. I think I have an underlying condition, but if I do, it has never been diagnosed. I am lost.

I wish everyone on here a better day soon, and a better year. I have had a nervous breakdown and it has taken years. My son's schooling has suffered and now I feel like such a failure.

I wish to God I could help him enough to sort it out so that his GSCEs are OK. There's such a bleak future for most people. I just wanted his future to be possible. I wanted it to be bright. I am a mum.

I lost my job recently, I have been failing in school for a long time and I am scared that I will be thrown out of school. Under these circumstances, I don't have enough money even to socialise, even to go out shopping, and eat in a nice restaurant.

It seems the only way out is to live through this hard moment and not expect it to get worse, because changes happen but not every change is positive.

I am really disappointed and depressed with life, and there is no way I can improve it, considering my constraints. I tried studying hard, tried working hard, but this way or that way I am falling into the same thing.

It seems that its a circle. Like you start somewhere, you move on and eventually you find yourself coming back to where you started. Maybe that's what my life is and I gracefully accept it without any hopes, fears, dreams or obligations.

Unfortunately, particularly when a child, you do not know your sick parents are generating stress for you.

Parents should really pay attention to their children.

I have an answer for you all. I promise it will help you anywhere between 50 percent and 100 percent.

I thought for the last two years I was suffering something that no talk therapy was fixing and it turned out to be 90 percent that my body did not have nutrients that are required for our nerves. Another thing is a natural serotonin. I think it's called HTP from a health /vitamin store.

Yeah right, you're saying. You are very likely in a bad place in your life. Remember, it will pass like bad things in the past have.

I honestly believe that with all the stress that life gives us, we use up all our nutrients making cortisol and our adrenal glands need help.

Before doing anything else, buy B vitamins first. I promise you that everyone needs this! I'm not selling you anything. I am not providing you with a link to buy anything from me. I'm doing this because someone on this website saved me from unnecessary pain and I'm paying it forward.

B Complex vitamins at least my friend. $10 may be your answer. It will at the very least give you the clear mind to tackle your troubles.

I am sending you all white light and love.

@anon226825: I am not trying to be offensive in any way, but if you need such quick feedback, then you need to consult a mental health professional, or call a mental health hotline, or go somewhere you can speak with someone face to face. You don't need to pursue online avenues.

I wish you luck in getting the help you are seeking.

I'm not one to ask for help, but I don't really know how to help myself. So I thought by reading other blogs, if not anything else, it might offer some tools to help me get through this living hell that I've been shouldering for much too long. Instead, I find myself no better off, and in fact, worse off than before.

I feel so sad for all of you who expressed their feelings, especially the young ones who shouldn't have feelings this intense for such a young age. I'm so sorry for the kids who have such worthless parents who dump so much responsibility on you in which I see as a total crime! I wish I had the power to make it all better for all of you. Obviously, can't talk to your parents or parent, but you need to talk to someone who will listen, there is help for the young ones. Don't give up because you have a whole future ahead of you. Seek help and don't give up searching until you find it.

I'm not so sure this is helping at you at all. As for everyone else, I hope life gets better for you. I too wish that for myself. Now, I don't even want to post my problems. This isn't where I will find help, I can already tell. I don't need someone to tell me to turn to God. That's fine for some of you and I respect that, but I need some tools or solutions, not the time to be wishing for a miracle to happen. Sorry if this offends anyone. It's just not what I need to hear. I need quick feedback because I'm not sure how much longer I can hold it together. I'm don't know what to do and I am scared -- beyond scared!

This site in interesting but there are not dates as to when people posted. how do we know if it is a current concern or not?

Generally, to everyone of us going through a tough time: hang on. Deal with one concern at a time and pray even if feels like doing nothing do it. I know this sounds hollow when inside you are just distraught. Ask other to pray for you. Even if you feel doubtful, others praying certainly cannot hurt you.

I am trying to hang on too. Take care, all.

I left a long term job after 16 years to pursue a position that was very lucrative on paper and gave me some equity right off the bat. It did not work out and I found myself out of a job for the first time in 27 years of work. I did find a position very quickly, however it does not pay what I am used to. I am very concerned and depressed over this situation.

I am suicidal and have the pills at my bedside to end it all. I feel as though I am never going to recover. How does this happen to someone who has worked hard his whole life. I am feeling very down and like a failure. My wife has told me she will leave if I cannot snap out of it. I live every day concerned about money, my work situation and my wife leaving me. I feel as though it is no longer worth it to continue. I need some advice.

I screwed up royally at work and will be having a meeting with my boss on tuesday when she will find out. I am so sick and on the edge of a nervous breakdown. I want to leave my job because I am so stressed out, but I can't find another job. No one will hire me. I am a teacher. this stinks.

I'm so sorry you are experiencing the pain you are.

I am sending you so much love to find the right choices. Right now make yourself a cup of tea and look at the steam. Everything else can wait. I love you all.

I've had several mental breakdowns in my life. I'm not even 20, yet. But I know I've had them.

I would have this rage build up inside and I would just throw things at walls. I would shut myself in my closet and cry for hours and hours. It's the most horrible feeling ever. I felt like I was worthless and that nobody truly loved me and that it wouldn't matter if I died.

One time my Mom walked in on me while I was having one. She just held me and stroked my hair and told me she loved me with all her heart. It was the quickest I ever got over one. But I've had them since.

I hate the fact that I've had them. My life isn't entirely awful, and I'm not in a horrible situation. But I bottle everything in. I just can't handle the world sometimes.

I never want to have one ever again, but I don't know if my body will let me.

@anon133242: You give good advice, about getting into a relationship with Christ, but words like that were totally hollow to me until I was almost 50 years old and then had a desire to know what the truth really was. It can be different for everyone.

And please don't be like I was. Yet even as a Christian, I assumed that someone who had a nervous breakdown, had it because their faith (or no faith/relationship) had dwindled to a point where now they would be susceptible to it. This very discussion came up one evening at a Bible Study class. It was a small class of about eight people. We were talking about being susceptible when our faith (or relationship) dwindles down. Then I had to pipe up and make that above statement. Actually asking what the others in the class thought about that synopsis.

Later I discovered one of the guys I was just getting close to as a great new friend, challenged the idea (but didn't go into detail). When I sensed his sudden short and somewhat upset demeanor, I backed off. I knew his wife was battling cancer but in my arrogance, never even thought that his wife could have possibly had a nervous breakdown. Well guess what? She did. My instant and sudden revelation was, what gives me the right to judge how her relationship with Christ is? Just as we all have occasional issues with the ones we love, we don't stop loving them (or Him). And I do now totally believe that a Christian can have depression enough to lead to a nervous breakdown if they don't recognize, and then get help. And because of this website, I'm realizing I have had (and are having) many of the symptoms that have been described herein and need to get some help.

As for getting into relationship with Christ, yes, that's very important. And I believe many people can cure depression through that relationship, but not all. Relationship doesn't happen by trying to cure an ailment, it comes by learning what the truth really is. And you can only discover the truth through thorough investigation. When or if, you are willing to investigate, keep asking yourself "am I letting myself be brainwashed, or is there truth behind what is said?" Then keep digging. The truth will stand on it's own. It doesn't need if's and or buts.

One suggestion for just beginning to learn about what faith is, is a course called Alpha. The Alpha course is nationwide and worldwide. I encourage you to find that class and try it. It is extremely informal and you can ask any and all questions without feeling guilty or embarrassed about anything. And if nothing else, you get a great free dinner before each class.

I am so glad I came across this website! Good luck to all with your issues and God bless. Oh – and my relationship with the man I upset by my class discussion, forgave me immediately after the class when I profusely apologized. He was/is much more mature in the faith than I and we are still, great friends today.

I recently lost my job and on top of that, my personal and financial information were stolen and now I'm in total panic as to what will and might happen. I have enough money to last years but already feel the dread of a bleak future since I will be unable to find a good paying job because my skills are obsolete and I have a hard time learning given my age.

My wife does not have many marketable skills and our daughter is only 12 and a long ways to go. The problem is we are used to a certain lifestyle and the stress and thought of a different lifestyle is killing me. I am like a zombie and cannot face the day with my worries and anxiety. I know many have it worse than me but I still feel this way, can't get out of it. I feel trapped and isolated and very scared.

I'm only 13, and i think I'm having a nervous breakdown. my mom is gone every day, every weekend. i haven't spent time with her just alone in a while. I'm always stuck watching my three little brothers and i think tonight was when the strings got pulled. i walked in the kitchen couldn't find a pan to cook and i started to cry. my phone started ringing and i cried. i am typing this right now and i am crying i cannot stop. i was texting and i started crying. i don't know what is happening but now I'm starting to slam things. i don't know what is going on.

I had a complete nervous breakdown in 2000. Ended up in the hospital emergency room where they said nothing was wrong with me and gave me a Paxil. Lost my job, lost my money, lost everything. Ended up with a one-year migraine walking in circles in the bedroom of a family member's house unable to function. It was horrendous. Eventually, over time, it slowly wore off and I got good enough to work again. Until the recession and change management fired us all.

I've been through a lot since since i was a little girl dealing with my parents and their drama and i hate it. There were plenty of times i wanted to kill myself. I hate my life so much. i never felt like this before. I wish i wouldn't have to go through this. I wish i had both parents in my life. It's hard. I wish i wouldn't go through this. I'm tired of crying. My life is so stressful!

i almost suffered a nervous breakdown. I'm 15 and my parents are pretty bad heroin addicts, and my mom also is a big pill popper.

I've grown up with the drug scene. my dad did coke for about six years the got off and went to heroin. my mom was never like this. we didn't get along but she worked and was a different person.

i took care of my little brother for most of his life. He is 12 and has mental problems. In the last month my mom has overdosed 17 times and my dad has come close to it. I've had to pick her up off the floor with needles in her arm.

The other day i freaked out. For the first time in a long time i really thought she was dead. and when she finally woke up the first thing she said was can i have $50. she wanted money to go by more drugs. i freaked out more then i ever have. i said things i should never say. i broke a tv by throwing it.

She is in jail for a year now and I'm in foster care. I used to be kind of outgoing and a little shy, but i wasn't quiet. and i was always laughing. now i don't say two words to anyone, and I've been having thoughts of running away. I don't know what to do.

I have been living a stressful life since 2000! We have had a loss of a job, friends, our retirement and our future. My husband has been left with serious heart problems. It's never over and now I think we'll lose our house. We do have wonderful grown kids, thank God.

What has worked for me is a relationship with Christ. Unlike any other "religion" or belief, Christianity is a relationship with, as is the entire basis for such, Jesus. Because he rose from the dead, a relationship exists. If we choose it.

I've never ever thought this was so far fetched, even as a very young girl. It was clear, it was matter of fact and now, and especially after losing a son, I know it's true, and it's the way it's stated it is in the Bible, it's amazing.

Try God. He does not say hard times won't come. The Bible never stated Christians are perfect. What the book says and what man says are far and away from each other. Pain, disappointment, heartache, heartbreak, stress, whatever it is in your life that is out of harmony, can be better. I encourage anyone to reach out, ask Christ to come into your heart, accept him as saviour and Lord, and you'll see change. Lean on Him, focus on Him, not the problem.

See yourself as the son or daughter of the King, that all that affects us here is "pretend;" it's not real. "Be ye in the world but not of the world." We're here, but it's temporary. Trust in Him. Give all your pain to Him. Turn it over daily. See yourself laying the problems at His feet. As Kirk Cameron puts it, 'Jesus came to save just as though He were to walk into a courtroom and tell the judge to let another go free, that He is there to take his place in prison."

He saves - just try God. He saved my life, He saved me for eternal life where, one day, I will see my son again as He promises us we will be reunited with all those who've accepted Him. Watch what happens.

God's power is beyond the "power" of man. Put your trust in Him. Write this down and tape it everywhere. Live by it: I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. God bless you.

@lost 25: Are you still around? I really feel for you. I went through a bad time as well. Right now my bad time has reached new heights. I hope yours has gotten better.

Relationship issues used to be terrible, but I have figured out what a really bad day is. My attorney's father just shot himself in the heart after court, over a girl I introduced him to. Will write more when I can.

wow! hearing all of your problems made me realize that my mom is not alone! mom has suffered through a lot of things in the past, but now as i have read all of your posts, my heart is at ease. Thank you.

i remain ever grateful. --Kavita

My aunt had a nervous breakdown. To make a long story short, she is seeing her mom who died two years ago. She talks and follows her around. Her husband cheated on her. He went to a party he wasn't supposed to go to and i was there. She blames me for being his accomplice when i had nothing to do with that.

Me and my aunt had an argument months before this incident so we really don't have a good relationship. She is threatening me with wanting to kill me and her sister in law because we were at the same party and the girl he cheated on her with is her in-law's friend.

But i think he is a grown man and knows what he does. It's nobody's fault but his. She is still with him and OK with him but angry at everyone who was at the party.

I'm scared because i think this is a serious problem. It's not normal to see and talk to someone who passed away.

Can all this that happened to her go away or can it happen to her again? Does she need to seek medical attention?

Oh soul are you troubled and weary, no light in the darkness you see. There's life for a look at the Saviour and life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

I got into an Ivy League school, went there had a decent first semester. Came back. Second semester. Holy crap. My mother has bpd, and she tried to kill herself during that time.

Everyone seems to blame me for it, saying how cruel I was to not take care of her, to not talk to her, etc that year. I was abused for 17 years by her in every way possible, and she told people that I was doing poorly in college. I was so miserable. Every second I wanted to leave.

Finally, during finals week I went to the dean, and I said I had enough. I had to go. Now. Unfortunately, it was too late to officially take the semester off so I was going to be suspended. Now, I'm taking a medical leave and will have to beg my prof. on Monday for an incomplete. I was so sad--and yes, suicidal. Still am. Still am. I screwed up my entire life this semester. I had worked so hard to get here.

No one said I would get in, and when I got in, my mother called me a whore (it may sound funny retrospectively but hell it hurt) for going to Brown. I just want to start over, but now, I'm such a mess that I'd don't know if I can. I want to fix my life, but I'm also full of rage and sadness. A very unhealthy combination.

please pray to your higher being and use meditation.

It's horrible.

Last year in July 2009 I retired from my job at age 55 with full pension. I was there for 35 years. Since that time I have felt myself going downhill. The routine is gone, my parents are elderly and have decided to move to a seniors home 150 kms. from here and to top it off my wife gets along with nobody in my family and I mean nobody.

Now the scary thoughts about health and life in general have set in. There are days I feel sick with anxiety but the doctor says physically there are no problems. He wants me to "exercise" and start doing things that I enjoy.

I appreciate where he is coming from but it is hard to do these things when you get up in the morning like you never slept. I am going to start small and work my way up to doing more things to eliminate the "thinking" times.

I hope others with any anxiety problems will do the same and post there results six months from now. I know I will and I think I can make things improve by then. As the doc said, "Stop thinking and start doing."

In June 2009, I had to go and get a MRI, blood work, etc. At the same time, my medical insurance card changed.

In November of the same year, I received countless invoices from my health care provider that my insurance did not cover any of my medical expenses. I then spoke with my insurance provider the following month and was told that it was an error on their part and that they would submit all the claims and that I could continue to schedule follow up appointments with my health care provider.

The following month, December of 2009, I had received a collection letter, stating that my health care provider turned over my bill to them. I was then informed that I had a deductible due of over $500. Stressing over where I'm going to obtained that kind of cash, I nearly suffered a nervous breakdown.

In retrospect, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder.

In addition, my health care provider will not see me until my bill has been paid.

I am so scared, I thought about ending my life. I'm suffering financially and morally.

What should I do?

I made a really bad mistake. I believed in my family. I worked as a maintenance engineer for my families' properties for 20 years. We lived in a 1500 square foot home with a 40 by 60 shop that I built, and remodeled the inside of the house. This was in April.

In August we were told we had to move out of the house, 12 days after my 51st birthday. We had to be out of that house, which was supposed to go in the will. This all came about because of my father's ailing health and my sister has control. My father's estate is some $4 million. We have no jobs. My wife had to have major surgery because of this. I suffer from chronic back pain. I am 51 and my wife is 58. And my family did this to me in the worst economy in thirty years.

We are living in a 34 foot RV. All of our personal things are in storage. We will not be able to pay rent in January on our stuff or space rent. So my multimillion dollar family kicks the guy that took care of them for years to the curb. We have no retirement. And I damn sure won't see a dime out of my father's will.

I haven't slept in six days. I haven't drank in nine years (thinking about). I have no energy, no ambition. When it comes it's only minutes. I would just as soon crawl in a hole and sleep -- forever.

lost 25- please forget your husband. He doesn't really care about you. He isn't worth it, the way he treats you! When you surround yourself with caring people you will start to find that you are really someone worth loving.

Please get professional help. They put your life in perspective and present you options, and there are many. Right now you just feel like you're trapped and can't do anything.

It is extremely important to get counseling now! And when you get back that self respect things will get clearer for you. I pray you will hang on and recovery to a normal happy life is always very possible. But you must take that first step.

The first thing you need to do is to talk to a real live human being about your problems. It can be anyone who is genuinely concerned about your problems -- not just a psychiatrist. As with anything in life you need to take things one step at a time. If you're in an abusive relationship you need to get out of it as soon as you can. However, there are many little steps you need to take before you are ready to leave your abusive spouse. First off you need to recover mentally before you can do anything that would be the first step.

i feel like i'm having a nervous breakdown from a bad marriage. my husband has no respect for women and is a online predator I came to find out. Playing different women on dating sites and pretending to be single. I feel like my life means nothing to him. He lies as easily as breathing. I'm beginning to believe he is anti social with no feelings for anyone but himself. It's ruining my health. Our finances are in shambles from him running up credit card debt on porn and dating sites. Is anyone else going through this and where do i turn for help.

i think i have ptsd also from finding out my husband was leading a double life during the time my father was dying of cancer. he is a pathological liar and i never know what is true and what is not. There's so much more to the story but i'm to depressed and sick of mind to go on. I think of going away somewhere and never coming back.

I thought my problems seemed so huge and overwhelming until I read some of the posts online. I do not have my family members involved in my life and felt like the only person in the world to not have them. It is difficult living the life we do with all the pressures of marriage, teenagers, family and work but no matter how hard these stressors may be, life is a gift and there is a light at the end of the tunnel and no one should ever feel that ending your life is the way out. The pain you will leave with the ones that truly love you is more than any pain you could be dealing with right now, ten times fold.

I suggest highly seeking medical help for those of you that want or have attempted at taking your life. Life is always going to challenge us, but it does get better!

I suffered a nervous breakdown. I am just 17 years old. I guess worrying about college and the future finally got to me. At first, I thought it was watching something scary that traumatized me like from Tim Burton. However, it turns out I just suffered a breakdown. I have been taking Vitamin B pills and talking to counselors to help me. Now that I understand how this works, my recovery is faster although sometimes I have twinges of doubt and painful memories as well.

Dear lost25,

Take courage and take strength! Don't lose hope okay? I really think that you should seek help outside, from an organization that deals with such cases like welfare groups or the police. This is a serious matter. You should tell this to a person or company who can help you. Maybe you could confide in your parents or relatives about your problems and they could help you seek help from there. Don't be scared to get help because it is also not for certain that you will lose your kids..your safety and your kids safety should be priority now. The relevant authorities will help you fight for your kids. Whatever it is, I think things will improve if you find help to get out of your situation. All the best and I hope things will get better for you!

I work with someone who thinks everything should be done in five minutes or less. What can that mean?

Dear Lost 25

I know how you feel. My ex abused me for 7 years and my heart was dead. It took the love of a new man who is a marine to show me how a real man is supposed to treat a lady. I have been married now for 5 years.

Please think of your kids. Don't let them feel the way you do or they will pick up on it. Leave your husband and take your kids to your parents and get some help. Once you do that then you can have your kids back and your husband will only be a flaw memory in the past.

It's not your fault what he did to you. Some people are just evil!

lost 25- i don't think you have bipolar or anything, no wonder you r upset, look how these people treat you, your own family even, letting your husband and family treat you like that is hurting you and you kids, this hurts your kids when they see you letting people walk all over you like this, and it hurts them when they see you upset. get the hell out of that situation, and away from those people, you r better then that. if your family wants to treat you like that, id disown my family, which i did by the way, i was in a similar situation, have some self respect, they have no respect for you, you can still respect yourself if you get away from those negative people,i think you need to get out of that situation, and then you would be okay.

i was given the diagnosis of dissociative disorder. i heard voices in my head and i had major personality flips. i thought i was myself but i wasn't, i would regress many times daily and i'm 38 years old. i would have many age regressions in a day ranging from infants as young as 2 years to 6, 8 or 10 year olds all the way through to teenage years. i had no control over these flips. at the time i was attached to these children and could not live without them, so i thought.

that was until i received names information and details about these personalities, and they began to write poems through me about what happened to them. i did research and details checked out. i had strange urges to go to places or would have an urge to do something that proved to me that, i am in fact not mentally unstable, rather i am a medium through which spirits came through me to try to get their stories told. they wanted me to know what happened to them. most were abuse victims who suffered terrible fates and were murdered.

i know this is not in my head because i knew details that i could not possibly have known and would stumble across things that nobody had knowledge of and that can't be proven as they are clues that only the deceased would know. i don't know how they met their terrible fates and i don't want to know. that knowledge has never been revealed. i'm glad because it would scare me to have such details and i would be worried that it could possibly put me in danger. some things are better left alone. i have only researched information psychically received by the spirits of the departed because i needed to know if what they were telling me and showing me was real or not. i needed proof for myself that i am actually a psychic medium. however i will never overcome the stigma of mental illness, especially since the mental health system and people in general tend to be skeptics that such abilities do exist and they would rather pump you full of anti psychotic medications and the like. they will tell you that you are delusional and that you are suffering from psychotic hallucinations rather than accept the possibility of any supernatural causes. they cannot accept that which falls beyond their concept of reality. if they can't see it then it can't exist and if it can't exist it can't shake the foundations of which they believe to be true. in this world if it's not able to be scientifically proven, it is non existent and not worth any serious acknowledgement.

if you are a patient within the mental health system don't expect to be taken seriously.

hi i also have had a pretty rough time and i don't know what to do my husband cheated on me with a czech blonde girl in the same place we had a honeymoon i left him for 3 years and he demanded me back after i was in a new relationship and pregnant and i was soo depressed i let him pay for the termination and went back to him with my two little girls aged 5 and 3, my own mother and father made me feel unwelcome my best friend told lies about me to my ex i have nothing and none my husband now ignores me unless he wants sex he doesn't speak to me unless he is criticizing me or putting me down. there is much more to this but not enough room to explain i have no one to talk to i can't get out of bed in the morning to take my daughter to school i wanted my husband to take me to the hospital last night as i cannot cope any longer he told me to get a taxi so i walked around the beach at 12 pm last night by myself i can't eat i can't stop crying i have this pinched nerve in my back makes it hard to walk and my 3 year old is very clingy and has a cold my husband think i do nothing all day. last night i was rocking with my fists clenched crying i want to die but i can't seem to be able to even do that I've cut my wrist so many times i think the scar tissue is too thick there is no way of getting out of this hell im only writing this down because my heart can't hold it in any longer...too scared to get help because i was told my kids will be taken off me.

to Posted by: amicrazy

Just like on a plane, save yourself and then your kids later. You need to leave them. Let them go to foster care. Forget about your husband. Move on. Move away and change your life. Look back at it from a distance. Then decide what parts you want back if any.

Bob.

Hadenough,

Medication is one thing, but it is really most important that you are being treated by a psychiatrist. In the opinion of most psychiatrists, meds alone are not the only thing that are going to help you deal with the stress. You need therapy too. If your gp prescribes for you, have him/her suggest either a psychiatrist who also does therapy-- or a therapist and a psychiatrist.

You are dealing with an extraordinary amount of tension and stress-- and as you said, you really need someone to talk with about this. An impartial person, therapist, might be able to help you through this difficult time. Also, if you're cycling moods, could be you are bipolar, in which case you need very different medications. Wishing you my best.

Hi people,

I read about your story and it really touched me Someone i knew online is going through the same thing. if there's any need to talk to anybody, you have to get professional help. Im volunteering to lend a listening ear too.

im here to ask advice please. i'm on citalopram for clinical depression due to the stress of my family and my kids. my eldest came out of kid prison on tuesday and has caused so much stress from the day she was born (she has attachment disorder) my mum and dad are useless. don't speak to them since i was told the sexual abuse i got as a child was deserved because im now but a slag. i have no friends no family etc and don't bother to answer fones anymore because i can't cope. over the last 36 hours im going between anger, irritability, suicidal thoughts, tears, silence to all and my head is spinning. what is going on i'm scared because i have a 4yr old and 8 year old still at home. is this normal??

hi, ihave been through some rough stuff in 2008, my husband has been cheating on me for a year and half, despite the fact i saved his life and gave him a kidney. my two sons are constantly being arrested. i have to leave work in the middle of shift because my 14 year old daughter sneaks out while i'm at work. 14 year old is now pregnant, 17 year old son also currently has an 8 month old baby that i help support tremendously. my husband is sick again the kidney failed after 4 years. my marriage is hanging on by a thread my job is in jeopardy. i experience extreme muscle twitches, chest pain, anxiety attacks, sleep disorder, i don't eat for sometime 2-3 days in a row, just completely disinterested i lost almost 30lb due to stress. my job is very stressful as well, i work as an intensive care cardiac unit nurse. my head isn't in the job anymore, i'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak, the twitching, spasms are totally uncontrollable as is the chest pain. panic attacks about my husbands infidelity plays on me everyday, i don't like to leave my bedroom or answer the phone. i feel like i have a form of ptsd. my daughter also stole prescription medication from me and distributed it amongst her friends. the biological father is in a homeless shelter for recovering drug/alcohol addicts, his brain is fried and he has no income i'm utterly alone and the stress levels appear to be manifesting themselves physically. please help any advice, going nuts don't know how much longer i can keep up this frenetic crazy place. i have absolutely no family parents are deceased with no siblings, one sister addicted to crack asking for money. any suggestions, i actually gave a full hearted attempt at suicide in feb to make it all stop but it didn't work.

Hearing voices as in audibly hearing or having voices in your head as if someone were speaking to you in your thoughts? Many people that experience the latter of the two are actually picking up telepathic messages from those around them or people that have passed on. I am an animal communicator - meaning I can communicate telepathically with animals - and have developed enough confidence to do this professionally for the past 4 years. I do get messages from people too, mostly relatives that are now life guides for me.