Forty or 50 years ago, people suffered from "nervous breakdowns." This was more like a semantic fig-leaf that covered a multitude of mental disorders, addictions, or toxic life situations. An MSNBC article covers the history of this now-quaint phrase.
“I haven’t heard that term in years,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a national advocacy organization based in Arlington, Va. “’It’s from another era.
”The term — a vague catch-all phrase that could mean anything from a psychotic episode to having a bad day — is not a medical term, doctors say, but it was a popular one that was gentle, non-specific and therefore non-threatening, and could serve as a cover.
The list of people reporting that they had it is long and distinguished, and include the names of the following celebrities:
Judy Garland
Frances Farmer
Rosemary Clooney
Lana Turner
Marilyn Monroe
Howard Hughes
Vivien Leigh
Rita Hayworth
Patricia Neal
Betty Hutton
Agatha Christie
Poet Anne Sexton
Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald
In 1966, the Rolling Stones released the song "19th Nervous Breakdown."
Oscar-winning Pedro Almodovar directed the 1989 movie "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown."
Nowadays people are more inclined to be frank and call their problem by their actual names, such as depression, bipolar disorder, addiction, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, etc.
