Breaking point (psychology)

Critical moment of stress within the mind

In human psychology, the breaking point is a moment of stress in which a person breaks down or a situation becomes critical.^[1] The intensity of environmental stress necessary to bring this about varies from individual to individual.^[2]

Interrogation

Getting someone to confess to a crime during an interrogation – whether innocent or guilty – means the suspect has been broken. The key to breaking points in interrogation has been linked to changes in the victim's concept of self^[3] – changes which may be precipitated by a sense of helplessness,^[4] by lack of preparedness or an underlying sense of guilt,^[5] as well (paradoxically) as by an inability to acknowledge one's own vulnerabilities.^[6]

Life

Psychoanalysts like Ronald Fairbairn and Neville Symington considered that everybody has a potential breaking point in life, with vulnerability particularly intense at early developmental stages.^[7]

Some psychoanalysts say that rigid personalities may be able to endure great stress before suddenly cracking open.^[8]

See also

• Abreaction
• Psychotic break

Bibliography

• Berne, Eric (1976). A Layman's Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis.
• Fenichel, Otto (1946). The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis.
• Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional Intelligence.
• Gudjonsson, G. H. (2003). The Psychology of Interrogation and Confession.
• Kimble, G. A. (1996). Psychology.
• Skynner, R.; Cleese, J. (1994). Families and how to survive them.
• Symington, Neville (2000). Narcissism: A New Theory.

References

1. "breaking point = work = Wordnet.Princeton.edu".
2. Kimble 1996, p. 100.
3. Gudjonsson 2003, p. 192.
4. Goleman 1996, p. 204.
5. Fenichel 1946, pp. 122–125.
6. Skynner & Cleese 1994, pp. 116–117.
7. Symington 2000, p. 79.
8. Berne 1976, p. 51.