The relationship between psychological/emotional pain and the act of self-harming is an interesting one. Self-inflicted physical pain, like scratching/cutting one's arms (and all the way up to suicide) seems to be an act of distracting from the 'greater' pain inside one's head/being. Thus the physical pain caused by self-injury is experienced as a 'lesser' order of pain than (a distraction from) the psychological/emotional pain....it may even be experienced as (relatively) 'pleasurable' for the relief it brings.

It is fascinating to apply this notion of suicide or self-harm to a nation, and I totally see it - collectively, individually, ancestrally there is a great deal of brutality, guilt and alienation in the UK experience. Personified, the UK does indeed appear to be going through a deep psychosis with no supportive TLC, nor guidance, nor the tackling of anything but symptoms and knee-jerk reactions........

A breakdown therefore seems to be well underway - Brexit is largely 'unplanned' as you say, therefore 'action' is bound to be emotionally driven (like the vote to leave :). This could end up in further self-harm and/or suicide.

But 'breakdown' can also lead to 'breakthrough'. 'Suicide' in this sense, could be the 'death of the ego'.

I hold an open future of possibilities, this is what we all seem to be striving for, wishing for. I believe that both will likely happen - breakdown, followed by breakthrough.