OddDuckNash99 wrote:
I'm not overemotional in general. Rather, I react much more intensely to certain things than the average person. I just have poor emotional control overall. Situations that upset most people don't affect me, and vice versa. I once read in some AS book that, on an emotional scale of "1" to "10," Aspies go instantly from a "1" or "2" to a "9" or "10." We just skip all the middle, slowly increasing levels of emotions. This is how I am. If I'm at a baseline mood with no dominant emotion and something happens to excite, anger, frustrate, worry, or upset me, I pretty much instantly have my "switch" go up to a "9" or "10." It's just automatic. My mood swings can be pretty dramatic, and I can go from being in a calm mood to sobbing or throwing things in rage if something provokes me.
Interesting, I can relate to it. Such emotional swings explain at least partly why meltdowns happen, and why so many people seem to wonder about its causes.
I can be hurt over simple things too but the worst is criticism like the OP wrote. I realize that a critique is most likely meant to improve me, but I can't help being emotional about it. When it spills over I overreact or have a meltdown. I've had plenty of time in my life to learn to cope with it, and although I'm much better than I used to be years before, there's still room for improvement.