descent into madness
Losing one's mind
A descent into madness is a gradual deterioration of someone's mental state, typically portrayed as a trajectory from sanity to insanity.
The phrase appears most often in discussions of fiction, film, and art, where characters unravel over the course of a narrative: The movie chronicles his slow descent into madness.
It can also describe real psychological decline, though often with dramatic overtones: Watching her descent into madness was heartbreaking.
- insanitySevere mental illness
- going crazyBecoming mentally unhinged
- unravelingProcess of coming undone
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- mental breakdownAcute psychological crisis
breakdown · spiral · delusion · paranoia · hallucination · hearing voices · obsession · frenzy · deterioration · slipping away · asylum · padded cell · hysteria · lunacy · sanity · crumbling · voices · shadows
- character arcscharacter arc, arc, redemption arc, hero's journey, fall from grace
- thrillerssuspense, thriller, nail-biter, page-turner, cliffhanger
descent into madnessrecovery
Regaining what was lost
healing · psychological healing · rehabilitation · stabilization · remission
descent into madnessredemption arc
Narrative journey toward atonement
spiritual awakening · hero's journey · finding oneself · triumph over adversity · rebirth
descent into madnessintegration
Combining into a whole
grounding · centering · sobering up · clear-headedness · composure
descent, descend, descends, descended, descending, descendant, descendants, madness, madden