nervous breakdown

American  

noun

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

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nervous breakdown British  

noun

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of nervous breakdown

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Example Sentences

The court heard details of the defendant's mental health issues, including a nervous breakdown in the 1990s.

From BBC • Jan. 20, 2026

In “Greenberg,” Ben Stiller’s title character is a cantankerous and neurotic New Yorker who has fled west after a nervous breakdown.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025

It cost him £27m in lost revenue and prompted a "nervous breakdown" among publishers, he said, but it paid off and in 2016 the company returned to profit.

From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025

In the mostly forgotten 1990 film "Crazy People," Dudley Moore's character, an advertising executive, has a nervous breakdown and starts creating brutally honest ads.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2024

The work was delicate and exhausting, and had to be suspended for a time to permit Michelson a brief but comprehensive nervous breakdown, but by 1887 they had their results.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson