meltdown, shutdown or just upset?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm having a very difficult time discriminating the idea of meltdown and simply being upset, for adults. I've seen the comparisons between meltdown and tantrum for children. Is there an analogue for adults?

Is crying in front of your boss a meltdown, or is this simply a human being responding to a very stressful issue?

Another example: when I find I've been passed over for an opportunity, I get upset...If I don't have work to distract me, I stay upset for an entire day or more...I sleep or surf the internet instead of taking steps toward maybe making the cut next time. Is this a natural grief response, or is it a shutdown?

Is there any difference?

To me, it's a meltdown because I'm the only one at my job who does this.

lol...good point!

For me there is a distinct difference. If I am upset about something I am just upset. Now with Autism, we tend to not have emotional filters so if you feel something, at least in my case, and I know this is true for many Autistics, we feel it in huge overwhelming proportions and sometimes those massive influxes of emotions can be really overwhelming and debilitating.

Now a meltdown or shutdown occurs when the brain is so overwhelmed it can no longer process any information causing it to go biserk in order to reboot itself. This is what creates the uncontrollable emotional outburst that is known as a meltdown or the blank zombie like shutting down of the system which is known as a shutdown. The brain becomes overwhelmed when it is so over saturated with stimuli that it simply cannot handle anymore. Now the stimuli can be sensory or emotional or both. Emotional overload has the same impact as sensory overload on the brain and body of an Autistic person. And this might not be true for every single one of us but I believe that it is for most of us. So the overwhelming emotions that you felt may have triggered you to meltdown or shutdown. But being upset and melting down are very different.

Being upset is an emotional response to something that you feel hurt you or that you feel is wrong or unjust. Melting down and shutting down are neurological responses that the brain and neurology have when they are over whelmed with stimuli and no longer able to process anything. It's like your computer crashing and having to reboot.