I have been trying to summarise certain passages from Claire Weekes’ book Self Help For Your Nerves. She is convinced that recovery from nervous breakdown is possible once certain understandings have been shown to the sufferer. The sufferer themselves must be willing to accept certain facts, do certain things, and let time be part of the healing process.

Her thoughts on the 2 different types of breakdown (simple and complicated) were followed by some of the complications themselves. We started with sorrow and will now brush on guilt.

According to Dr Weekes, if guilt is an action that we have done, as opposed to something that has come from outside of us, we should be ready to ‘confess’ and make reparation.

If confession and reparation do not seem to have much immediate effect do not be disappointed as the nervous system may still be fatigued and will tend to supplant new guilt for old.

This is because the nervous system is still unbalanced and exhausted by constant thinking and focus on the problems it has been facing. Once informed with the right information about such we will be able to see the guilt for what it is, namely the dysfunction of our system and thought process.

Guilt alone can cause breakdown but it is more usual that a guilt complex arises during an already established breakdown. The mind, made super sensitive and non-resilient by fatigue, latches on to any guilt, real or imagined. This may persist for a while as the mind searches for things to replace that which we are trying to get rid of.

We must try to unburden the self by speaking closely with our adviser and making amends where possible. And should not dwell on the possibility that this un-burdening is lasting or not as when we are ‘cured’ we will ‘feel’ these things less acutely and be able to see ourselves and what is going on from a more rational perspective. TO BE CONTINUED

(From my own experience I believe that when I eventually ‘broke’, the catastrophic feelings of guilt came afterward. In fact quite closely afterward. I then confused everything I was going through with guilt on the dastardly things that I had done in my life. The guilt became a filter for everything else and I was blinded and laid low by it. It was an un-speakable catastophy that took many years to recover from. My major mistake was trying to put myself back together alone and hiding my true thoughts from everyone. Hence the pain and near madness continued to rule my life. The finding of a true confidant, the ‘confession’ and the willingness to try make amends eased the anguish. Not all at once, but enough to see the light. True peace I have known now. So yes we can be ‘cured’ of breakdown if we can be open to the healing of our broken selves.  )