Breaking Point

I was out in the green house yesterday evening to water the plants after being away for the weekend. Whilst watering I noticed that there were a few tomatoes ready to be picked. Once I picked them they all had split. I asked my dad why this happened,  his response was to suggest that, they had a miscalculated amount of water.

Was it as simple as that?

So I decided to Google it and this is what I found:

Splitting is more likely to occur in tomato varieties where the skin does not stretch easily. Causes of splitting or cracking include:

* Inconsistent watering – The most common cause of splits in tomatoes is heavy rainfall or watering after a period of dryness. Irregularly watered tomato crops are prone to cracking because the sudden excessive moisture makes the inside of the tomato expand, rupturing the outer skin.

* Temperature fluctuations – Large changes in temperature can cause splitting, especially if leaves are removed from the tomato plants too early so that the fruit is deprived of protection. Alternate heating during the day and cooling at night causes the skin to expand and contract, leading to splits.

* Improper fertilization – Being low in potassium and high in nitrogen can make tomatoes more prone to cracking, as can overfeeding once tomatoes have begun to ripen.

It surprised me in some ways that it was more than what dad had suggested and what I expected.  But in other ways it did surprise me, the more I thought about it, its quite common for multiple things to reach breaking point.

Are we any different?

Of course not, I've reached breaking point myself in the past, have suffered mental health issues and still do in some ways but not the way I was at breaking point. Common reasons for mental health problems come from multiple reasons. Which is often why people on the outside do not quite understand what you're going through and from my experience you get common statements like "I thought because of X that you should be happy/ok"

But what is missing is all of the things that are wrong.

it is suggested that these 6 points are the most common reasons for a nervous breakdown. The breaking point for us all.

*a sudden relationship disaster/separation and divorcea

*traumatic event, perhaps a series of traumasa

*drip-drip effect finally taking its toll (not unusual in emergency service personnel and when caring for someone who suffers from a longterm illness)

*other work-related issues

*not having eaten and slept enough!

Like with the tomato there are multiple reasons and usually these reason are together,  if not all of them.

Sometimes people are completely caught off guard - never having suspected that life could have come crashing down.  They, perhaps like you, would have never identified themselves as not being able to cope or prone to a 'mental breakdown'.

So what to do? It is difficult,  I will not declare that I understand because one thing I have learnt is that everyone has an individual battle, even if it is similar to others. What I will say is this seek help. I know I started this blog with a poor example with the tomato, but it worked well, many reasons can get us to breaking point, its not a weakness, its the surrounding causes, however individual,  but I sought help both in my personal life as well with the above example. Sometimes it is just speaking to someone, someone you can trust to be understanding.


Nervous breakdowns, depression,  anxiety attacks these things are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign that you have tried to remain strong for as long as you can.

Even whilst writing this I have to remember this myself. We all have a breaking point.