Dealing with the aftermath of the devastation

Hi guys!

For me recently I feel like I've been in the eye of a tornado where all I felt I could do was close my eyes and wait for it to pass. That's how my emotions feel to me sometimes. In this state I haven't been responding to my friends and/or lecturers at uni. If any of you experience similar how do have you fixed things if things have been wrecked by your mind going AWOL for a while? And how do you begin to explain to people that things you normally can deal fine with have suddenly become so overwhelming you can't even think about them?