A nervous breakdown is a natural human reaction to what Grey Bateson would have termed a double bind situation.It is when you have to do something, but can't do any of the pratical options, and you can't afford not to choose one of those options. Bateson used that description in the extreme to describe the condition in schizophrenic patients who have suffered from double bind situations for such a long time that long-term deviant behavior is normal to the patient.

Yet, it seems that it could apply to all of us in times of momentary stress. And indeed, as another theorist of the mind, R.D. Laing would have argued, a nervous breakdown could actually be a transforming experience. Indeed, individuals are created in times of crisis. The question always is how can one turn such a crisis into a transforming experience, and use their personal symbolism to make themselves into more of an individual?

Nervous breakdowns are painful, but may very well be part of a normal healthy life. Indeed, a stress free life would not have the powerful forces needed to create an individual. It takes difficulty at a personal level first to overcome difficulty at a greater level. The question must indeed be how can such stresses be used to benifit the individual. There are no such things as bad situations, just bad ways to react to situations.

Conclusions. Anybody that ever comes to a truly bad time in their life, needs not worry about the negativity, but to be encourage to stand up and make positive change. Maybe our society at this time needs to be sheltered from one's psychological weaknesses, but we also need to be tolerant of those who are being changed by the powerful forces within and without them. Remind them at the end of the day, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.