This is a very difficult question John and I am sure that there are many reasons for this. I feel, from personal experience, that society puts extraordinary pressures on people and there may be a cutoff point after which the person just cannot take anymore.
To give you an example, I have been helping someone (email communication) who had many family problems and suffers with bipolar. He has a son who got into trouble and his wife left him for another man; he had pressure at work and many other problems. Most of these problems were related to the family losing their home due to loss of employment. He was able to rent a house after his wife left him and live there with his son. After what he told me, I thought that he was doing extremely well considering his bipolar.
One day he wrote to me that he had bought a petrol grass cutter (lawn mower) and that when he got home he found that the mower was not working. He told me that he felt like committing suicide. I helped him and convinced him that suicide was not the answer but what was clear is that the problem with his new lawn mower was the last straw and he could not cope with any more negativity. He had become simply unable to deal with anymore problems; even a very small problem like a lawn mower not working was far too much. All he had to do was to take it back to the shop but his mind was no longer thinking clearly. This very small problem, on top of the many serious problems he had experienced, was too much for him to handle. Fortunately, I was able to help him out of that mental state and convinced him to go back to the shop and get another working machine or get the money back. He did and possibly avoided suicide.
And of course stigma can be another reason why people loose the plot.
Ethan Watters, in his book: Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, 2010, writes that our idea of mental illness as purely biological disease (the biomedical model rather than the biopsychosocial one) and our practice of labeling and creating an ever-increasing variety of mental labels, may exacerbate the problem of mental health stigma. He notes that Professor Sheila Mehta, from Auburn University Montgomery in Alabama, conducted a study to find out if the brain disease narrative had the intended effect: that is, that people with mental illness have a brain disease and are not fully responsible for their behavior or actions. It was believed that this social narrative would reap great benefits and reduce mental health stigma.
Conducting an experiment, Professor Mehta found that the subjects of the study were significantly more prejudiced towards those who were said to have a brain disease than those who were said to have a mental disorder caused by a traumatic past event. The conclusion of the study was that the idea of mental illness as brain disease leads to increased mental health stigma.
My "family", from time to time, enjoys "baiting" me.
Ohh.. "Tabby is blaming the family for triggering her. See, see that is what we are saying. The BIPOLARS always blame others."
No.. what I am saying is... from time to time my family members enjoy baiting me, to see what reaction they will get. When i give them a reaction, that they "suspect" that they will receive, then I am labeled "hysterical and not able to be dealt with because you've blown up for no reason."
I can be having, for example, a highly agitative mood and I do warn those closest to me. I warn them and I advise them. "I am itchy and agitated today. I do not feel well."
So.. what happens? Topics of discussion that are normally "off limits", crosses boundary lines, OR are frothed with their attitude.
So... what happens with me? I explode, or get highly bitchy, or I tell them to get the hell out of my house (or hang up).
For example: I have no money because I do not work because I am laid off. I am seeking work.
So, I'm in a highly stressed anxiety ridden agitative mood and I forewarn and advise.
My elderly father decides to nag and pick and poke about "so, when are you going to get a job? You can't pay your bills if you don't have a job. Are you even looking for a job? Must be nice to sit at home all day and not have a job?"
Then I get highly pissed. Why? Because a button has been pushed, a topic has been risen for ridicule. He knows I'm agitated, I've told him. He just keeps right on and the more I try to deflect and distract, the louder and more "poking" he becomes. So, I explode, raise my voice, say a few choice words that children shouldn't be privy to but know more of them than I do most likely...
and I am then labeled and declared "irrational, hysterical, unable to deal with and no wonder you got laid off from that last job. If and when you go on interviews be nice (tabby). Be very nice to the people so they'll like you. Not like you do me or your sisters when we try to talk to you. You know how you are."
Now some would say I have justification for being peeved. Others would, and my family does quite often, say that I get agitated for "no apparent reason".
I have a reason.
I go through the same thing with my daughter. Only her. Well, M our Assistant to the Manager, but only them. They ae thoroughly conviced that all arguments are 1) my fault 2) because I am bipolar. No, it's because I fundamentally disagree with your world view. I do not see everyone as those with whom to be in competition. I respect their point of view as their point of view. They do not have to agree with me nor I with them. I do not argue every point nor bait them into some specious argument so they can say "see, youre angry you must be having a bipolar thing or something." Really!? You want to conduct a relationship with me, an adult and you, an adult on this level. Really?! But I feel like I'm "riding the rails off the crazy train" when I talk to them at times. And I know that I just have to shut the H up or they are going to get me all wound up and I'll say something weird or stupid and prove their point.
And yes I have my point. I've talked to my daughter and sometimes I think that has gotten a bit better. I don't have to talk to M. She knows better somewhat now, (yes, I WILL sue your ass off it you try this in front of c0-workers again)
That's why i that e-mail fiasco of 2 weeks ago with T our manager got to me. He was targeting someone with dyslexia. He wrote 10 inte-roffice e-mails about one mistake this other auditor had made. I never said anyting to T because I knew I would just come off as hysterical. But some time soon someone around there will get hysterical on his ass. Just not me.
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How much do you know about bipolar disorder? 
Hmmm...that is an interesting question. First off, I have a lot of hangups. It has nothing to do with being bipolar. I am insecure about a slew of things. I also struggle with paranoia (which MIGHT have to do with being bipolar).
I have a tendency to read things into situations that probably only exist in MY mind. Things that could possibly upset me (like when you mentioned the ton of things falling from the sky..) don't. I can see those things as mishaps and since I've had so many truly horrible things happen in my life, those things are small. It's the unexpected things that hurt my feelings that usually upset me. They catch me off guard. Those things usually involve not being accepted by others.
Being bipolar I am extremely sensitive to how others perceive me. I usually do not tell others I am bipolar for the simple fact that they do not know what it is and just think I'm crazy. Deep down though, I feel different. I'm unsure of how to react to many 'normal' situations. My social boundaries are obscured by vacillating emotions. I think when outrageous things are happening, I step back and let others freak out. My freakouts are usually when I perceive being treated different than others, or being excluded from things that others are included in. I dislike being ignored in social situations. It makes me feel less than acceptable, invisible.
I have been married and divorced three times. In my last relationship the man cheated on me. My biggest fear in life is that I am not worthy of being loved. This fear carries over into about every relationship I have with others. (friends/relatives) Friendship is hard for me. Period. I don't trust.
In a nutshell, my meltdowns come from my OWN insecurities. If you combine this with hormonal fluctions and mood swings, you get an unstable cocktail. But really, is this any different than 'normal' people?(Every human has insecurties that color our perceptions and reactions) Sure, there is the possiblity that I am either manic or depressed, and this certainly colors things, but I'm either manic or depressed on any given day. My psychiatrist says my coping ablities are pretty good, so I don't think this always plays into my freakouts.
Hope that answers the question.