Do NTs ever have meltdowns?

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I've read descriptions on WP and in other places about meltdowns but am wondering if they are only specific to those with ASDs. It seems I have seen a few adult NTs in my lifetime having a 'fit'....throwing things, punching walls, and basically just out of control.

Yes, anyone can have meltdowns aka emotional outbursts, these are not specific to autism.

I think they are the same.

They generally look the same outwardly, but I think the causes are likely to be different. For those who are neurodiverse, the threshold for having a meltdown is probably lower, and triggered by things that wouldn't cause a similar reaction in most NTs.

I think they can look different. For example, when I have meltdowns, I often hit myself and scream, which is something I don't think most NTs would do.

Depends on how you define meltdowns. Some women I know describe crying when too stressed as "meltdowns".

Some smokers who are trying to give up smoking have said they had meltdowns from trying to give up smoking, even men.

NTs can have outbursts too. My boyfriend's 19-year-old son is NT but he has anger problems. He's punched doors in at my boyfriend's apartment before, through angry tempers. My boyfriend said that his son has always had a bit of a temper, but he is nowhere near on the spectrum at all. It's just the way he is. Must get it from his mum.


But, like almost every symptom of everything, it depends on the intensity, frequency and causation, measurements that are too subtle to explain but are there.

I think NT's have meltdowns. I don't think there is really anything in Asperger's (I am specifying Asperger's because I am HFA and I don't want to speak for my LFA fellow spectrumites because I don't know if they have issues that I don't experience) that is Asperger's exclusive. I think everything I struggle with, other people struggle with to a degree as well. I don't think everyone struggles with every thing. But I don't don't think that I suffer from anything as as Aspie that only Aspies struggle with.

I think the difference is the severity of which I struggle with them and the frequency in which I struggle. For instance, with meltdowns, an NT might have a meltdown after stressful conversations if he is overwhelmed all day from them after a couple of days. I might have a big meltdown after having a stressful conversation for a few minutes.

An NT might have a meltdown if they listen to loud music that they hate for hours and hours. I might have a huge meltdown if I hear it for a few seconds or a minute or two.

Meltdown is an overused word. Crying, shouting, or saying things you normally wouldn't are actually perfectly normal, healthy and human things to do when angry or upset and not be a meltdown. It is the equivalent of a wounded animal growling and snapping to protect itself. Throwing a tantrum to manipulate others is different from a meltdown caused by sensory overload even though NT's think they are the same.

Yeah, a tantrum is being a spoiled brat to get what you want. A meltdown is when your brain has reached super saturation point and can no longer take in any more stimuli and basically crashes from overstimulation and trying to process more information than it can handle. A tantrum stops as soon as the person gets what he wants. A meltdown stops when the brain has reset itself after crashing. A tantrum is a manipulation tactic and always requires an audience. A meltdown is a neurological bodily response from being overwhelmed and will happen whether you are alone or in a crowd and never needs an audience as a target and is never manipulative. And in my experience, once a meltdown starts, it has to play itself out. It can be a few seconds or a few hours but it has to play out to completion so that my brain can reset. A tantrum will last as long as the person throwing it wants it to last.