meltdowns anyone?

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What exactly are "meltdowns"?

And what triggers them?

What kinds of situations?

Usage varies, but generally it's a sudden involuntary outburst of tantrum-style behavior - yelling, crying, sometimes aggression or self-injury. Can occur as part of a number of different conditions, including autism.



In autism/AS? Usually one or more of the following:
* sensory overload - too much noise/light/whatever
* change in routine, especially an unexpected one
* general stress
* sometimes mean people picking on them

For other conditions with meltdowns, it can be other things. For PTSD, for example, it's stuff similar to the trauma in some way. For ADHD, it's usually either the same things any child would find upsetting but with the ADHD kid unable to inhibit the full-blown reaction, or it's things like being prevented from moving or being forced to attend to one thing too long. For kids with separation anxiety disorder, it's separation from the person they don't like being separated from. For bipolar, it can be nothing at all, or an exaggeration of a typical stressor, or something related to a delusional thought (eg paranoia combined with something that could be misinterpreted as an attack). For schizophrenia it's usually related to a delusional thought. And so forth.

for me, a meltdown is a complete loss of control and an EXTREME outburst of energy, sometimes i will dismantle my room but mostly i self harm,cry,scream and swear. after my meltdowns i usually sleep. as for triggers, sensory overload, routine change, or someone is pressuring me to do something. they used to be frequent and violent but now i have shut downs, which is when i cry and dont interact with anyone, eat or do anything for long periods of time.

I have ADHD and have big tantrum style meltdowns. It usually occurs when there are too many thoughts running through my mind or when someone disturbs my routine making me confused. Its kind of like an overload of stress. I usually shout, scream, hit myself (out of frustration, not intended to harm myself) then cry and then have to go and rest for an hour or so. I can now generally see the signs of when one is coming on, I tend to get agitated by small things throughout the day. Just have not worked out how to prevent them yet.

I had a meltdown yesterday. Short one. 5 minutes or so. What triggered it was stress, anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. I was sitting by my laptop reading something when all of sudden I just felt completely overwhelmed and like my brain just froze. I started shaking and then I started hitting myself in the face/head. Then I stood up, threw and punched cushions/pillows, paced, threw more cushions and then I sat down on the floor with tears in my eyes while trying to breathe properly.

This is one thing I don't seem to be able to relate to and I don't quite understand.

I do have many symptoms of AS, but I never really understand what meltdown is. I do internally feel angry, overwhelmed, scared or frustrated etc, but I'm very well in control of myself and my emotions. Is not having meltdows unusual among people with AS?

I do feel very nervous when I'm with certain kinds of people. Sometimes my body and voice shake and my heart beats faster when I'm with them. Could this be considered as a meltdown? I've always thought it was just nervousness.

i wouldnt really call Meltdowns a Symptom, people with autism in general like scheduals so we dont have to fear anything unexpected, but when something unexpected comes, we can barely fathom it and we loose control.

having control issues is a symptom though, many people with autism and aspergers will have twitches, tics and urges that we cant control, for examples: in class, sometimes i just have to say something out loud, like "monkeys steal wallets," sure people stare at me afterwards but i cant control it.