Many many people, Believers, have spiritual breakdowns in life. It is temporary for some. It is a stumbling block. In pursuit of a religious life sometimes, and it is normal, we hit what is best termed a dry well. You go along and you practice as you have known. And it just doesn't work. You pray, you make dua, you give zakat, you do good deeds and you feel as if you are dead tired, people irritate you to no end, you go through the motions; you feel alone and despondent.
You wander into the desert. You contemplate, you drive yourself crazy. All the knowledge you have is of no importance. You are so alone. And that is a good thing. The Prophet, swas, stated that Allah, swt, does not make His beloved suffer but places him under adversities.
It is a time to change and yield to the decree of Allah, swt. Not easy, not easy.
We are given the example of the Prophet Ibrahim. Wow...did he contemplate. Did he analyze. When given the directive for the scarifice, he, must have had choices to make. Was that not the prime example for us.
At any point in life we are given two choices. We are impatient by nature. When we are seeking Allah swt we get impatient. We want it and we want it all, now.
Allah,swt, tells us in the Quran we come closer to Him, swt, in slow stages. We could not handle anything else. A dry well is a part of the journey.
Hope this makes sense. You just keep on keeping on...when the blessings come as it is with Allah, swt, you ask for a raindrop and He, swt, gives you an ocean.