Dr. Thomas Szasz has written about the myth of mental illness in his book, The Myth Of Mental Illness. Perhaps writing about the myth of mental breakdown might be useful, too. Mental breakdown can perhaps at best be a metaphor. The mind is intangible, so how can something in tangible break down? Perhaps if the mind ceases to exist, then it has finally broken down. However, even upon death we have no way of proving that the mind does not continue somewhere else. The only thing that can be agreed upon, for the most part is that those who remain alive cannot interact with the mind from the body that has died. The qualifier, “for the most part”, is used because some humans believe in phenomena like ghosts and so forth.
A human can want to give up on striving toward their goals. The mind can be dulled with drugs. However, the mind can literally breakdown, perhaps no more than the wind, a joke, grammatical structure or communication can breakdown.
If one perceives feeling extremely frustrated, difficulty thinking clearly, or ready to give up as a form of mental breakdown, then perhaps there is an element of choice in this. Dr. Thomas Szasz has equated clear thinking with courage, rather than intelligence. So perhaps if one feels like they are experiencing mental breakdown in the form of difficulty thinking clearly, then perhaps mustering courage will help. If one is frustrated, or thinking about giving up, perhaps one can decide to keep striving. There are perhaps always more potential ways to solve problems.
Perhaps spirituality would be useful in preventing this metaphorical problem. For many, faith and/or belief can create emotional strength. Belief in a higher power can be a source of strength and courage. A Course In Miracles may be useful for helping one to find inner-peace, joy, and bliss.
This post is meant as philosophical and speculative. Its point is to illustrate how we sometimes literalize metaphor, and how that can be counter-productive and/or make problems in living worse. Defining and seeing constructs clearly can perhaps serve to put thoughts into perspective, and allow one to think more clearly and realistically. If one feels like they are having a mental breakdown that cannot be handled alone, if it is an true emergency then perhaps emergency services should be contacted, otherwise professional services should be sought in a timely manner.
