Life can offer us many challenges having to do with loss. When we are faced with relationship loss, financial loss, loss of health, loss of limb, loss of regard, or loss of love, we can feel overwhelmingly anxious, depressed and stressed. When the anxiety, depression and stress get too big, we may have a nervous breakdown that is, we become incapable of functioning in our everyday life and incapable of coping with our daily challenges.
What causes one person to have a nervous breakdown while another, with equally difficult or even more difficult challenges, is able to stay functioning and even optimistic?
Imagine a seven year old child trying to cope with a big loss in his or her life, like the loss of a parent. What enables the seven year old to handle this loss? A seven year old can handle the loss only when there is a loving adult helping him or her with the loss. When there is no loving adult helping with the loss, the child may handle the loss by shutting down. The shutting down may lead to a loss of functioning, such as doing poorly in school.
However, when the child does not feel alone with the loss when there is love sustaining the child from an...