Am I having back-to-back "meltdowns?"

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AinsleyHarte
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19 Jan 2013, 9:07 pm

I am relatively new to identifying as AS/HFA and I need help/advice from life-experts on what is going on with me and how to deal with it effectively.

Back story: I am staying with a friend in his father's house because I have nowhere else to go. The household consists of myself, my friend (who is also likely AS/HFA,) his father, and two sisters. On a quiet day, there will typically be 3-5 people here. One sister has a boyfriend that is over almost daily, the other sister is in high school and regularly has friends over, and their father has a girlfriend with a teenage son, so the number of people in the house can reach up to nine or ten people at once. I stay downstairs in the common area and have little to no privacy, nor can I find moments of peace and quiet. I need a place to get away in order to feel sane, and I can't find that here.

So, here's what is going on:
Lately (the past few weeks, more so in the last few days) my stress and anxiety has been hovering just below "freak out" levels (if they were on a 1-10 scale, and 7 was the point at which you start to lose control, I'm typically a 6-8.) I am normally able to maintain control over my brain-to-mouth filter, even if I'm thinking angry or judgmental thoughts.

For the past two or three days, I have been in a state of turmoil. I've been stimming almost constantly, can't sleep, losing weight, and feeling horribly depressed. No matter what I do, I can't seem to feel better; even my old tactics aren't bringing comfort. Normally, I will just isolate until I feel sane again, but it is becoming impossible to get away from people lately.

When anyone (predominantly my friend) tries to interact with me, I become extremely aggressive with my tone and words. I don't do it intentionally. It hurts that I'm doing it, but the more I try to control it, the worse it becomes. Yesterday, I was supposed to go visit a friend I had not seen since June of last year. I was very excited to see her, but when I woke up that morning, I felt like everything was working against me. I woke up late, and by the time I got in the car for our hour-long drive to meet her, she said she was all ready at the place we were supposed to be meeting. My friend/roommate was driving, and I became so upset and anxious that when he stopped at a stop sign, I jumped out of the car and ran home in tears (we were approximately three miles from the house at that point.)

I was exhausted when I got home. I got in bed and hid my head under a pillow and listened to my go-to CD of ocean waves to try to calm down, but it wasn't helping. When my roommate came in to check on me, I tried to explain myself. In the process, I became so worked up that I started hitting myself in the face, pulling my hair, talking so quickly that I didn't know what I was saying, and ended up rocking and crying in hysterics. It took me hours to even feel like getting out of bed.

Ever since then, I have been so moody and aggressive that I lash out at anyone and everything. My roommate became depressed because I said some uncalled for things to him yesterday, and seeing his depression today made me so angry that I started yelling at him again. I keep repeating phrases and stimming and trying to isolate from everyone but this house just feels so invasive and like its poisoning my brain.

I can't seem to control myself. I've never had outbursts this bad and I don't know what to do. Is this a normal AS trait? An "Aspie meltdown?" What exactly am I experiencing? I've had similar situations arise in the past, but I had been "mis"diagnosed BPD/GAD/Dysthymia and assumed that was the case, as they ended in me taking a court-ordered visit to a psychiatric hospital for several weeks.

I'm sorry if I'm not making sense; I'm so stressed out and confused by my behavior that its hard for me to formulate my thoughts cohesively. I just need some advice and/or clarity. I'm trying to find a therapist to talk to but no one is answering me fast enough for me to get immediate help.


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Aspie score: 180 / 200 - NT score: 25 / 200
Aloof: 112 / Rigid: 109 / Pragmatic: 117
AQ: 47


Zodai
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19 Jan 2013, 9:41 pm

Sounds like mass stress to me...

Just find a place to get some rest. Restraining yourself from social contact for a night will help you calm down. If you don't feel confident enough, just stay in the room. Maybe play an MMO or something, text communication is easier.

Just try and stay out of social contact for a few hours, maybe take a long nap. Most of us do it daily xD (I assume, at least I do)


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CockneyRebel
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19 Jan 2013, 10:14 pm

Sweet Pea hugsImage


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AinsleyHarte
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19 Jan 2013, 10:27 pm

Life is that annoying thing that interrupts my napping sessions. I've been "sleeping it off" more often than not lately. My sleep schedule is so wonky though; I can't sleep at night because my brain won't turn off, and once I fall asleep, everyone else is waking up and I can't get back to bed. I nap whenever I can to make up for the lack of sleep at night.

Stress is a major contributor, I know. I'm recovering from not one, but three dental abscesses, quitting smoking, in the midst of a fight with my mother, constantly barraged with noisy and inconsiderate people, waiting on my disability claim, potentially losing one of my closest friends, etc etc etc.

It feels like I'm able to cope less and less with each passing day. My verbal communication skills are slipping (they weren't too great to begin with,) I'm becoming increasingly volatile, stimming more often, and feeling more dissociative than ever before.

I need a vacation. Hah.


_________________
I wish I knew who I was before I was Me.

Aspie score: 180 / 200 - NT score: 25 / 200
Aloof: 112 / Rigid: 109 / Pragmatic: 117
AQ: 47


AinsleyHarte
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Joined: 14 Nov 2012
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Location: Seattle-ish.

19 Jan 2013, 10:54 pm

CockneyRebel wrote:
Sweet Pea hugsImage


Thank you.
This is the most acceptable form of "physical" consolation I have received all day. Some people just don't understand the concept of "I don't want to be hugged because I can't stand being touched right now." It's not that I don't want the consolation, I just can't stand physical contact when I'm feeling like this, which does sadden me a bit.


_________________
I wish I knew who I was before I was Me.

Aspie score: 180 / 200 - NT score: 25 / 200
Aloof: 112 / Rigid: 109 / Pragmatic: 117
AQ: 47