Moody or Moodless?

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This is something I've been wondering for some time. On the one hand there's the stereotype of the 'emotionless aspie' and on the other hand there's the tendency for many to experience high levels of stress leading to meltdowns.

What I'm asking about here is the changeability of your "ambient mood" so to speak. For example, I know people who get hungry or tired and it makes them grouchy and they take that out on everyone else. My partner's one of them and he says he simply can't help it. He has moods, he knows they're unreasonable or irrational, he knows he gets spontaneously irritable one minute and can be cheerful and mischievous the next. He can snap, forgive and forget all in a matter of minutes.

In contrast, I have very strong emotions (internally), but I'm not moody. I don't take things out on others unless they have specifically done something to undermine or try me. If I'm angry I know exactly why and I can give a reasoned explanation. If someone else gets moody and snaps at me for no reason (eg. my partner), it feels incredibly unjust, it hurts a lot and I really struggle to forgive or forget because it I don't understand why anyone would do that.

I don't understand my partner's moods, they're so illogical, but he says he's normal and I'm the odd one. I just wondered how things lie on the spectrum since I've seen examples of both extremes here too.

I am very moody - in fact, I am cyclothymic, meaning that I quickly switch between emotional states. I'm always riding an emotional rollercoaster and my emotions are very strong and complex. I usually cycle between depression, euphoric happiness, anxiety and serene contentment. It's like a toned down version of bipolar disorder.

However, I do my best to not take my frustration out on other people. I'm usually a nice person to be around, I don't start fights, but I tend to be impulsive sometimes. However, if people start lashing at me, I'll get instantly angry and fight back, cry and get very upset. I forgive and forget easily, though.

What I cannot help is getting a meltdown or a shutdown. If something or somebody brings me on the verge of a meltdown/shutdown, then I cannot handle myself any longer and melt or shut down completely. Other than that, even if my moods are constantly changing, I am pretty okay with controlling my behavior towards other people - that's because my family are very moody people and they've been taking all their frustration, hurt or anger on others (me included) and I don't think it's fair for this to happen. I must admit that, without having had experienced myself the ill effects of this behavior, I'd probably have indulged it in myself... I ended up as being more empathetic instead...

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Probably 75% Aspie, 25% NT... and 100% ADHD

Aspie-quiz results:
Aspie score: 138 of 200 / NT score: 78 of 200 => Very likely an Aspie.

I'm moody. I go from one extreme to the other. However, I tend to keep it all inside and most people I deal with have no clue what my actual mental state is. I seem happy, most of the time, or maybe a little anxious/worried, seldom 'in a bad mood'.

I am not moody at all. Moodiness and meltdowns are unrelated, I think. Moodiness is made of small ups and downs in emotional states that other people have for reasons that are unknown to me. Why someone would be grouchy while hungry is bizarre to me. When I am hungry, I am just hungry. I don't get grouchy. It seems to be a social emotion that I don't have. Meltdowns are different from moodiness, I think. Meltdowns are moar like someone dropping an anvil on your foot, the intense horrible sensations caused by that trigger, and you reacting to those sensations.

I am very moody. I can be happy for a few minutes, and sad or angry a few minutes later. But usually my mood tends to switch from angry to anxious.

The only time you ever saw me moody:

I'm very moody. I'm normally a cheerful and sometimes mischievous person, but it doesn't take very much to send me spiraling into sadness or anger, as my posts on this website can attest. I try to keep my emotions internalized, but those around me can read me like an open book and I do take it out on other people sometimes.

I've always been extremely moody. Doctors (and myself) suspected I was cyclothymic for a while. It never fit, though, because my moods are always triggered by something. It wasn't until I learned I had AS that it all fell into place- all of my moods are directly related to interruption in routine and sensory issues.

My state of mind alternates between apathy and contempt for the most part... though I'm not particularly expressive in either regard. I do try to keep the contempt in check though where possible.
I'm so jaded the ancient Chinese could have made a palace out of it.

I experience a lot of mood swings over the course of the day. I don't act on them. There are lots of things going on around me that remind me of my past in some way, or another. I can feel my mood change when that happens. I'm joking again after a few minutes after that happens, so it can't be all that bad.