28 May 2014, 12:39 pm
bumble wrote:
Pobbles wrote:
I don't have panic attacks, I bottle things up for a decade or more then have a nervous breakdown.
You way of phrasing your experience made me laugh.
PN This does not mean I find you having a nervous breakdown funny.
Oh yeah.....I do know what you mean though (humour aside). Meltdowns are like an endless feedback loop.
A perspective that's been meaningful for me is to just realize and accept that our way of dealing is, and will be, different from another. I've already shared this long ago on the Wrong Planet, but I'll rephrase here since it's pertinent.
Everyone goes through hard experiences every now and again - that's normal. It's how we deal with it. Resultantly, I can scream/cry, curl up in a ball, rock and just sob until I fell asleep from sheer frustrated exhaustion. Then it's done and I move onwards. A neurotypical friend of mine related that she might deal with the same stressor by watching a chic-flick, sitting on the sofa eating a box of chocolates. Then she'll phone up her girlfriends to meet and chat about it, then confide in her husband who offers her comfort.
So....who's way is 'right'? After all, we do get over it, just our path to doing so differs. Granted, if any outsider saw my meltdown, they'd think I were crazy, while her way would be considered normally healthy. But is her way qualitatively better than mine? Maybe just accept that our Aspie brains are wired-up differently, and not feel ashamed.
