What do your meltdowns look like?

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Please describe.

Usually I start hitting myself or an object.

Sometimes I go ballistic and start smashing things. Although that hasn't happened for a pretty long time now.

People get scared when I go on a meltdown in the subway out of frustration.

I don't think I've had a meltdown.

I've smashed things up ( things I've wanted to keep ) and punched inanimate objects but I think that's anger issues with me.

I no longer have meltdowns. Haven't had any in over 45 years. I have overcome them.

Would you say, though, that there are times when frustration or exhaustion get so acute that normal functioning is interrupted and you need to separate yourself away for recovery?

I had a few epic ones from preschool to grade 3.

Once a scout leader had to chase me down a street and peel me off a bin.

Later, though, I identify my experiences as a shutdown, where I can be stuck in a very severe emotional reaction to stress etc.

When this happens, I'm basically not good for much else over the rest of the day. It burns spoons in a pretty major way.

I think there was a point where I started exerting more cortical control over the amygdala-hijack response, turning it inward, one of the things for which I was awarded the dubious honor of a high functioning label (once we knew such things exist which came much later).

There was a point around the end of highschool where my choices of activity limited my exposure to the worst stimuli. For many years my choices would usually keep me away from toxic people or sensory hostile environments.

These days I added noise cancelling headphones and can cruise through Melbourne central shopping center and train station with total equanimity. When I need it, there's the eclectic tones of Les Claypool to help me chill out in spite of pretty much any circumstance or rumination.

I don't have any and i don't think i've had any when i was younger.

Same.

I don't think I've had one in years, but when I was a kid I'd flip out because of sensory overload occasionally. I'd either start screaming or crying and run away (only eloped once in my life), or I'd turn on whoever who was triggering the overload. I threw things, maybe hit someone if they were unfortunate enough to be nearby. I only head-banged once in my life, and I immediately freaked out because I thought I'd given myself a concussion (I was a severe hypochondriac at the age of eight). Never did it again.

I'm not sure if 'meltdown' and 'outburst' are synonyms or if they are different, but people called them 'outbursts' with me. Before I went on Sertraline I had outbursts that I just couldn't control. The outbursts were often caused by either feelings of helplessness, or being frustrated with myself. They consisted of yelling abuse, smacking myself in the face, kicking or slamming doors, swearing, screaming, crying, and arguing with loved ones. It would last for about half an hour or a bit more, and would end with a splitting headache and an upset family. I was always guilty afterwards for causing such grief. Sometimes I would go weeks without having an outburst, then it would happen out of the blue.
Reassurance and cuddling was a good way of calming me down, but understandably people didn't fancy cuddling me after having an outburst. Sitting alone in a dark room was not the solution. I'm not the sort of Aspie to be calmed by sensory stimulation. I'm the sort to be calmed by positive social interaction.

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Last edited by jimmy m on 13 Feb 2019, 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

No. Not anymore than any other introvert. Around half the people in the world are introverts and they recharge their batteries by seeking solitude. Extroverts recharge their batteries by bouncing off other people in conversations.

They mostly stopped for me at 12. Since then I will have a 'crying jag' from time to time but those aren't too common.

I mostly just yell & curse & then storm off.

Most of the time I can tell it'll be a meltdown day when I wake up. I notice that I cannot handle my clothes touching me, and I change 15 times until I basically leave the house in pajamas because it's the most non-intrusive outfit I have. Mostly I will cry uncontrollably for an extended period of time, depending on what triggers it.