3 iam not having a mental breakdown i am simply Evolving Developmental psychologist Jean Piaget (1963) observed that in order for people to learn anything new, their old mental pattern must break up and rework itself around the new, incoming knowledge. This process of internal breakdown and accommodation is key to continuing intellectual development. Likewise, Polish psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski (1972) theorized that emotional distress is potentially a sign of growth, not neces- sarily illness. He saw psychological symptoms as coming from a freshly activated urge to grow and coined the term "positive disintegration" to describe times when people break down inside in order to reorganize into more emotionally complex beings. from Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents - iFunny