There was a post in one of my FB group feeds today which asked, "How do I know if I'm having a breakdown?" Lest you think that this is way too graphic a question for the usually sunny pages of a bland social media site, then it might help if I add the note that this is a mental health group. Members are encouraged to be open and honest about their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I reply and sometimes I don't because I want to have something of value to say. Otherwise I shut up.

This got me thinking about the more general question of what causes humans to break. What would cause me to crumble so much that I could no longer perform fairly perfunctory daily chores and activities? I have had some challenges in my past - nervous illness in my twenties, a hyper-stressful job, a trial by jury, relationship breakdowns and one divorce, the deaths of people close to me. I haven't broken yet, though I have been sorely tried and perhaps close once or twice. When that deep pit beckons, and it can hove into view all of a sudden, then a voice deep inside stands its ground and heaves me towards safety. I don't know where that voice, or impulse, comes from, but it will not let me lie down, thankfully.

This is not to say that I am more resilient mentally that other people. I completely understand why the trials of life can lay a person low, such that repeated experiences chisel away at resistance. There may be a tipping point, I don't know, but the endurance of so much can lead to a unintended crumpling, both bewildering and devastating in equal measure. Friends and family rarely understand and are only too happy to proffer advice, almost always useless, if well-intended.

What would cause you to break, do you think?