Meltdowns

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Does autism cause emotional breakdowns?

I've read in a couple of threads about that, and it's mentioned as if that is a standard autism symptom. I haven't heard of that, and it certainly doesn't seem to be mentioned in anything official about it.

I think so, I mean it's certainly a symptom for me. It happens for a variety of reasons and it exhibits itself in a variety of ways, it's normally a combination of internal and external sensory stimulation. Difficult things happening in life, change, routine disruption, PMS, ill health, social interraction, trauma etc seem to make it happen with more frequency. Not fun at all, I've had two weeks of daily meltdowns (most days happening several times, one or two days free) and it's left me barely functioning and my normal functioning level is pretty low.

I have them when things start to pile up. like if I have multiple things go wrong in succession.

To OP: I think if you read into it a lot you will find it listed as a symptom in some places. That is if you intend "emotional breakdown" to mean the same thing as the commonly used word in the ASD community "meltdown". The subject of the post suggests you mean this. It's certainly not in the diagnostic criteria. I assume that this is because it doesn't necessarily happen to all autistic people - people react in different ways. I certainly have what I would describe as meltdowns very often. I'd probably also say that "emotional breakdown" could be applied to the meltdowns I have. I start off becoming very anxious and quickly progress to some combination of: INTENSE anxiety, being uncommunicative, making a mess of any attempt at speaking (forgetting words, stammering, going round in circles), crying, wanting to flee/get to a safe place, getting angry/aggressive. Any given meltdown will probably include most of those. Anger is the least common and will only normally happen if someone prevents me from getting somewhere safe or if someone mocks or laughs at me during the meltdown.

I've been in some kind of hell over a long period. But it just made me passive and calculating, it caused a lot of thinking etc. And a lot of depression, anxiety, hopelessness, let-downs and emotional reactions. But I've never "set out" these ractions in social situations outside the home. I didn't know I had Aspergers in this period. It took a while before something even remotely helped me and I was forced to learn to balance myself so that it would not end in some obviously unfavourable way.

I remember a recurring feeling of wanting to bash my head in the wall, to pierce anything with my fist and to maybe jump down the stairs. Anything else would be maybe just pubertal.

I don't have these reactions at all anymore.

Were these things meltdowns?

Meltdown is when you give up on everything and shut down.
Then how is it different to depression?

Is it like a recurring depression, which does not need to have big emotional outbursts?

Edit: And it was not energetic. It was despair.

I am always coming off as someone people just don't want to answer.........

I think more people here experience meltdowns than not, and I'm no exception. It's another reason why I don't like having AS: I find it so difficult to control my emotions. I hear Aspies have trouble expressing them, but I have trouble NOT expressing them. I do cry a lot, but that doesn't seem to get my anger out, and I also tell people how I'm feeling all the time, but that still doesn't stop anger from building up from time to time. I think I express anger like an NT, but not over things what NTs would be angry over. But when I'm having a meltdown, I sometimes go a bit manic. I scream, insult, slap my face, swear, and just don't know where to put myself. I just don't know what else to do when I'm in a temper. Anger is very difficult to control, even for most NTs. Face it, we all get angry and want to lash out at times, but the way I do it is just.....it's too complex to explain the differences between an Aspie outburst and an angry NT moment.

I think I'm lucky, I never experienced something like what you all describing.
When, for example, many people talking to me at once, and when it is too much I just.. mm. shut myself. Everything becomes white noise and for a few minutes I get this very weird feeling, like 3d person view, except there is no 3rd person view actually. Like I'm not myself, and only watching all this. Oh, not sure that my knowledge of english is sufficient to describe it.
And when that feeling is gone I usually want to be alone in silence for some time, but if I can't for some reason - it's not that bad, I can deal with it, and there is no bad consequences..
I don't know if this is counts as a meltdown)

btw I almost never get angry. I can't even remember when was last time when I got angry.

Meltdown's are usually described in cases of LFA. It usually refers to an outright tantrum. When the stress caused by a situation becomes so severe, that a fearful or angry outburst emerges. This sort of behaviour is un-common in AS, and even less common in adults.

Meltdowns are referred to a lot by individuals with AS, but this usually means something different. For the same reasons, stress or sensory issues, either a shutdown / non-communication or some sort of panic state like a panic attack.

Jason.

Thanks for the info.