nervous breakdown

noun

|Updated on: 30 Jul 2018

Examples: nervous breakdown in a Sentence

Definition of nervous breakdown

: an attack of mental or emotional disorder especially when of sufficient severity to require hospitalization

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Examples of nervous breakdown in a Sentence

She had a nervous breakdown shortly after her sister's death.
He is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Recent Examples of nervous breakdown from the Web

His grandmother, who had suffered a nervous breakdown from incessant shelling, ended up in Britain, having been told the U.S. was not accepting refugees who were disabled physically or mentally.

— karl vick, Time, "A Reckoning After Trump's Border Separation Policy: What Kind of Country Are We?," 21 June 2018
Several months later, after a fight with his boss, Scott reportedly has a nervous breakdown and is admitted to Ashurst Clinic.

— julie miller, HWD, "The Secret, Real-Life Love Affair Behind A Very English Scandal," 1 July 2018
Beverly’s on the verge not of a nervous breakdown, exactly, but of resentment.

— hilton als, The New Yorker, "With “Fairview,” Jackie Sibblies Drury Breaks the Fourth Wall," 24 June 2018
In the second half of the story, the soldier-writer has left Esme’s town, gone to the front and suffered a nervous breakdown.

— lauren markham, Longreads, "For Me, With Love and Squalor," 7 June 2018
During a period apart from Elie, Jean-Baptiste suffers a nervous breakdown that results in his being institutionalized.

— ben sachs, Chicago Reader, "L’Enfant Secret is so intimate it feels like a confession," 25 May 2018
Phoenix’s Joe is a leg breaker on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

— gary thompson, Philly.com, "You Were Never Really Here," 11 Apr. 2018
His wife has a nervous breakdown, Henry ends up with his best friend’s wife, and a drug dealer ends up with Henry’s briefcase.

— gege reed, The Courier-Journal, "Here's what to do in Louisville: Go after-hours at the Speed or dance at a masquerade," 14 Feb. 2018
Regardless of his current mental state, the fact remains that Kanye West was hospitalized in November 2016 for a nervous breakdown.

— angela helm, The Root, "Kanye West and Charlamagne Open Up Space to Talk About Black Men and Mental Health," 2 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nervous breakdown.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.