How Not To Have A Nervous Breakdown

Being overcome By panic, and living in a constant state of anxiety, led Lynette Botha to re-evaluate her priorities

- Lynette Botha

I remember hearing, a few years back, about a female colleague who was admitted into hospital following a nervous breakdown. She was in her mid-thirties, a mom of two, and a very successful marketing professional for a large retail group. I couldn’t believe the news. She’d always appeared so calm and on top of things, always cheerful – not to mention great at her job. It seemed as though she genuinely had everything together.

I was in my mid-twenties then, and – perhaps naïvely – couldn’t understand what would drive someone over the edge like that. Surely, before it got to that point, you would realise that you were pushing yourself too hard?

Fast-forward to the present day and I totally get it. You see, breaking point doesn’t just ‘happen’. It creeps up on you slowly. I am an anxious person by nature. Where this stems from, I’m not sure, but I’ve learnt to deal with it in my own way – until one day, a few months ago, I realised something really wasn’t right.