What’s the difference between feeling stressed out and being on the verge of a mental breakdown?

I don’t know because I am too anxious and irritable. It’s also difficult to focus on this after not eating properly, getting no sleep, and feeling lonely.

But wait for a second…maybe that is the answer.

This morning, I watched a clip on the YouTube channel “Psych2Go.” When I saw the title “8 EARLY Signs You’ll Mentally Breakdown.”—I was almost scared to click on it, but I am glad I did.

If you also felt anxious and overwhelmed lately, I highly recommend watching it too.

Here are eight signs that we might be about to experience a mental breakdown:

1. Irritable

We all get annoyed at things, but at what point does it become a problem?

I was talking to a friend this week and all of a sudden he told me to calm down because it was too much for him. I didn’t even notice that my voice sounded loud, angry, and desperate.

Not noticing that we are stressed out is probably the most obvious sign that we lost our cool.

2. Worried

It is normal to worry about things. Especially when we are about to make drastic changes in our life. But if we are worried about things we can’t control 24/7, then we might need some external help.

There is a difference between caring about something and overthinking problems that might not even exist.

The moment we start worrying about being too worried, we might need to practice our acceptance skills.

3. Isolated

Everyone needs to spend some time on their own. It’s actually a skill to maintain our happiness when we are by ourselves.

But if we are too worried about life to answer a phone call from a dear friend, we might have a problem. If we feel that nobody would understand our suffering anyways, we might not be able to make it out of this rabbit hole of overthinking without external help.

The moment we start avoiding friends and loved ones because we are too desperate to share our thoughts and feelings, we might be on the verge of a breakdown. It’s almost a self-fulfilling prophecy at that point.

4. Lack of appetite. 

It’s not unusual or problematic to miss a meal when we feel stressed out, but it’s a problem if that becomes a habit.

I recently noticed that I hadn’t had a proper breakfast for more than six months. Why? Because my brain doesn’t even think about eating when I wake up. There are so many things on my mind that I don’t even think about food before nighttime.

If you regularly forget to eat, it might be the time to make a plan on how to change that.

5. Feeling tired

Many of us don’t get enough sleep. Others sleep far too much. Like everything in life, it’s about balance.

Sleep is essential to our well-being. It’s not a healthy choice to sleep less than eight hours per day, but it’s also not helpful to spend all day in bed.

If we find ourselves not sleeping during the week and then spending all weekend in bed, it might be a sign that we are inching toward a mental breakdown.

6. Lack of focus

It almost explains itself. If we worry too much and feel irritated, it’s pretty hard to focus on anything. This might lead to misunderstandings that get us even more worried and irritated.

Seriously, how are we supposed to focus on anything after not sleeping properly for weeks?

Not to forget that our lack of focus creates more problems to worry about, as we keep making mistakes at work or when interacting with friends and loved ones.

7. Motivation

I remember times when music literally saved my soul. I loved playing music every day.

Yesterday, I picked up my guitar for the first time in months. It felt terrible. My fingers felt stiff, and my voice was not able to find the right tunes—and I gave up.

I felt no motivation to keep practicing. Instead, my mind told me a story about how much I suck as a musician, and that it’s just a waste of my time.

8. Breathing

As someone who taught yoga for 10 years, I should know about the power of our breath.

And I should have noticed that my breath patterns changed throughout the last two years—but I didn’t.

But then I was invited to a lovely mediation session last week and noticed that I couldn’t even sit in silence for more than five minutes without feeling anxious. I experienced shortness of breath and laughed at myself after the experience.

What did I do to myself without even noticing?

And that’s the tricky part about these signs of a mental breakdown: we don’t notice any of that until it is almost too late.

We are conditioned to try harder, be strong, and ignore the warning signs. Some of us are extremely successful in doing that. And by that, I am not talking about well-being; I am talking about our careers.

But how much does it help to be successful in our job if friends start avoiding us?

Is it worth putting all our efforts into making more money if we end up lonely and depressed?

Is our inner voice telling us to try harder maybe just a sign that we need to shift our priorities in life?

To be honest, I don’t have the answers to these questions. I am also not able to offer any help in overcoming these problems, as I find myself in the midst of this storm myself.

But healing begins with awareness. Before we can solve a problem, we need to become aware of it.

And in my case, this “Psych2Go” clip really helped me with that. I hope you enjoy watching it too.

May it be of benefit.