How to Stop Head Banging?

Post Reply New Topic

I've been having a pretty crappy month. I've had three meltdowns in the last four weeks, which is very unusual for me. Every time, I wind up banging my head really hard into the nearest wall. I really need to make this stop, as it's giving me bad headaches, and I worry about permanent damage. What do you all do to keep from hurting yourselves during a meltdown?

I don't think there is a way to keep form hurting yourself during a meltdown.

Unless you put on a helmet when you feel a meltdown coming, not much can be done.

However, I told my psychiatrist about the meltdowns I have sometimes and she prescribed me ativan for them, if I am having a meltdown, I just put one under my tongue and it sedates me in a minute or so. Helps a lot.

Yeah it's pretty hard to put controls on going out of control unexpectedly. I really can't think of anything other than keeping a helmet on as much possible. The only thing that helps me is being restrained.

Yeah, my friend restrained me during the one I had this morning. I worry that one day I'm going to hurt her because my fight or flight instinct kicks in and I try really hard to fight her off. I'm lucky she's really strong, and works with autistic kids a lot, so she knows how to handle meltdowns.

When I have a meltdown I tend to punch or kick or slam anything nearby. I'm not really sure how to control it except to perhaps go into a more open area with less objects to bang into.

No joke, I thought this thread was going to be about you listening to heavy metal and not being able to control the urge to headbang to it.

But in all seriousness, I second the idea of getting a helmet. It's a way of protecting yourself from the most serious damage at the very least.

Lol, whatamievendoing, that would be pretty funny!

I think maybe I will try the helmet thing. My meltdown yesterday happened at work, and I didn't realise until today that apparently my supervisor saw the whole thing. I'm very lucky that she's so kind and understanding, because she wasn't upset about it. She and my friend who helped me had a conversation with me about finding a safe space in our office where I can go if I feel a meltdown coming, and we came up with a few possibilities. It's just embarrassing though, I hate having to face everyone after the meltdown is over, I feel so stupid.

Until you can get some mix of therapy and head meds to stop it...a helmet is the only way.

But...?

Is it feasible to go through your waking life wearing a helmet all of the time?

And what kind of helmet? A football helmet with your favorite team logo?

Or what?

Well, I wouldn't wear it all the time, it would just be another tool in my toolbox, like my weighted vest or my stim toys. I have no idea what kind of helmet would work best, but I found a link to padded hats that protect your head but look like regular articles of clothing: http://www.ribcap.be/

I'll have to give it some more thought, because I definitely don't want to stand out more than I already do, but a concussion would suck worse than dorky head gear.

you could wear a hat like this:

Charming, thanks Raleigh!

Target your aggression at a pillow. Faceplant into the pillow or slam it like Hulk slammed Loki (not near anything breakable). I tend to bite myself when I have a meltdown, so I try to bite a pillow instead, but I don't always have full control over my body in a meltdown.
It could be that the physical pain itself is what causes people to self-harm during a meltdown. I don't want to sound like that magnum guy but going for a run or something could help. Workouts hurt, but they usually don't cause damage.

When I was a teen they had me on ativan because I slammed my head and wrist into things. It helped a lot. These days I head straight for the drugs. Now I take klonopin, ambien and kratom. It's an automatic thing for me now, I can't control it, but it's better then slamming my head into walls.