What qualifies as a meltdown and what doesn't?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm like you...I don't flip out. I hide... Sometimes I just need to hide.

http://life-with-aspergers.blogspot.com/2007/11/aspie-meltdown-insiders-point-of-view.html

There's a link. Anyone got one any better? I mean like a scientific type. Something with categories, tables, comparisons. Stuff that's concrete. Personal experience is fine, but I'd rather see something concrete.

Thiers alot of very traumatised teddies and dolls out there.

I only use to get mad with dolls cause when I talked to em they wouldnt talk to me. Just stare

Most of my outbursts were started due to bullies, they were mostly a way to get back at the bullies, well I wasnt under control but the only thing I thought was that I teach them what it feels like. I realy did not get it, I would flip out at times and hurt them but it did not stop them from abusing me. For me inanimate objects did not do alot, my mum offere me to get a punching bag but I dont think that it would work as it did not stop how I felt. When I was in it I would say exactly how I felt do what I wanted (feral) and then crashed, my problem was that I felt like a bad person but I am not and the thaught of being a bad person is suicidal.

My meltdowns are usually triggered by frustration. The frustration can be caused by sitting in traffic, having my routine interrupted, not understanding verbal instructions, not seeing the logic in someones argument, and so on. Also they can be caused by sensory overload like a flickering fluorescent light, a loud piece of equipment at work, or an ill-fitting article of clothing.
It's usually a combination of these that triggers it.

As a child it would be triggered by fighting with my sister, being torn away from my encyclopedia or video game and forced to eat or sleep, being bullied, etc. The meltdowns I had in childhood are similar to the ones I have now, except they don't last as long, and I don't cry and scream and I've since stopped biting. A typical meltdown as a child for me would have been coming home from school and carrying on screaming, kicking, and biting, head banging, and hair pulling for three hours because there was no Swiss cheese in the refrigerator for me to snack on....when really I was probably bullied on the school bus on the way home, and got yelled at by a teacher in school.

I have no control over when it will happen, and I'm given no warning. Some days I'm more sensitive than others I suppose. They begin the same way they did when I was little. My vision gets distorted, my ears ring, my muscles get tense and I just snap. As an adult this can result in shouting and yelling, or more likely throwing an inanimate object like a cell phone, or even more likely, hair pulling, head banging, scratching or cutting myself.

Usually afterward I'm very quiet, and I have a very hard time concentrating and focusing, and I'm mentally and physically exhausted.

I really enjoy how empathetically and compassionately you all are sharing about your meltdowns. It makes me feel safe. I have them too, just not ready to go there right now. I think mine are more like verbal walls.