NERVOUS BREAKDOWN Definition & Meaning

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nervous breakdown

noun

(not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.

nervous breakdown

noun

any mental illness not primarily of organic origin in which the patient ceases to function properly, often accompanied by severely impaired concentration, anxiety, insomnia, and lack of self-esteem; used esp of episodes of depression

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of nervous breakdown¹

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The finale, a musical nervous breakdown, illuminates what’s been driving the character all along.

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“Even to this day,” she says, “people think of me as the woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.”

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"We often wonder whether mum had a nervous breakdown during that time," she said.

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Another great performance in a go-for-broke horror flick about a woman well over the verge of a nervous breakdown.

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Act Three offers a performance at a point when nervous tension, romantic fury and artistic demoralization bring the production to a nervous breakdown.

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