Do you have meltdowns?How bad?

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Ive been seeing people posting how they NEVER had a meltdown or at least grew out of them, so decided to take a survey out of curiosity,

My meltdowns are BAD, like REALLY bad and i cannot predict them very well. Just this morning i was suppose to babysit my niece at MY house but my sister said i had to watch her at HER house, i was about to message my sister and tell her i cant do that but when i went to type my hands just started SMASHING my computer, i didn't feel it coming, i calmed down and sorted it out- i dont like it when plans get changed it will almost always cause a meltdown reaction.

My Meltdowns involving
- leaving
- screaming
- self harm (head banging and cutting)
- hitting
- throwing objects
- hyperventilating
- crying
- pacing
- suicidal thoughts

Its really just better for me to be alone with my meltdowns.

My meltdown causes are
- Sudden change in routine and setting
- Emotional build-up
- loss of anger control- (during an argument or when im being bullied) <-- THESE ONES ARE THE MOST VIOLENT.
- too much negative sensory input

How about you?

i immediately voted for the "yes, but not that bad, just crying" option, but after reading what you've said, i see that i do have somewhat violent meltdowns. i smash my head, self harm, etc. oddly, i didn't realize until now that those things count as melting down.. so, i apologize for voting incorrectly.. i am actually more of the second option, perhaps?

I've been known to get upset if a train is going slow, thereby delaying my arrival at such places as work or the movies.

I smash my head against poles, scream, slap myself silly, and growl.

People look at my funny, and go away from me.

I picked the third option.

When I get into an argument with someone, I smash my head against walls.

And I slap myself on the face when I'm looking for something, and I can't find it.

i picked the top one, because lots of people have got hurt in the past, and the police have been called several times, mostly im the one getting hurt though.

When I was young, I often had violent ones. I still can have violent ones when I am very intoxicated. I don't think they are normal drunken behaviors, but loss of control over them because I am drunk. So I don't drink anymore.

Now I usually will just start crying uncontrollably. I must remove myself from a situation. I no longer throw things or hit things or people. I will hit myself at times, though.

I don't have them often anymore. Maybe it's because I will go isolate myself and calm down.

I have them when very angry, very anxious, very frustrated, etc. If someone is treating me unfairly or being cruel, if I am feeling a lot of pressure to accomplish something, if I am very worried about something, or if my sensory problems are overwhelming, I will have a meltdown. But the sensory ones aren't as bad; I simply leave the situation before I get too upset.

Im getting better at not throwing things or hitting people, its been years since ive thrown anything in a meltdown but i still punch walls and objects and myself...

I don't know how to vote with this, because I don't have regular meltdowns, but I have had a couple in the past under extremely stressful circumstances... the two I can recall include when my parents threatened to take down my internet, thereby taking away my access to friends and roleplaying... and in the middle of a wedding party where it was really crowded and I didn't want to get up and my parents kept bugging me to go buy alcohol to drink until I finally cracked.

The first time I broke my phone by slamming it onto the ground and shouted many a loud swear word at my parents (I never swear under normal circumstances), and the second time, I broke down in tears amidst a large crowd of people and had to be taken home before the wedding party was over.

Beyond that I've had small moments where I've suddenly cracked from being calm and apathetic to becoming angry and hostile, but I don't think the circumstances were too abnormal, they were just more of an extreme jump than most of what I've experienced from other people who seem to slowly work up to anger under pressure. I can't really tell if the circumstances are down to autism-based stimulus or just general stress that everyone has.

So yeah, I can't say I've never had a meltdown, but they're so rare that I don't think it justifies me voting for other options either.

In a serious meltdown for me I go pretty ballistic and have to be restrained. I will strike out at things, people and myself. Lots of times the right people are able to either defuse the meltdown or help me work my way out of it. For less violent meltdowns it's usually best to just let it run its course.

I checked 2

Yes-very emotional with lots of screaming and yelling. This is the most common for me.

Yes-and can be dangerous. I can throw things but not at anyone. If anyone is going to get hurt it will be me.

The more general stress in my life there is, the more likely it is that I will have meltdowns over additional stress.

I used to drink a lot and I didn't have meltdowns. At least not that I remember

Well, not sure what you would call it, but under extreme stress, i either cant sit still, am pacing, will drive somewhere and when i get there will drive back, like mind doesn't know what to do.. will shake arms, like doing a warm up for a 100m sprint! But generally will close myself off in my room, and talk to myself alot, full body shakes, but younger, i would scream if parents tried taking me into a busy store, always had issues with shops in general/busy places, have got much better though but still get the anxiety build up and muteness, but still avoid if i can or will go and do shopping at the quietest times... There is certainly one trigger i have and that happened again recently, the worst part for me is i never know when it will fully stop, sometimes it days even weeks and months, depends on the level of stress and when it subsides... I never outwardly intentionally or unintentionally hurt anyone, im too caring about others to let myself ever do that or even think about it.. I just think i wouldn't want them to feel what i was feeling, but this amplifies the inwards emotions i feel, but there is no other option... leg bouncing/foot shaking is definitely a constant as is nail biting, only ever had them cut once in my life... But generally all the above i try to keep as private as possible. My "Tomb" (bedroom) is my sanctuary aswell as nature and water if i have the energy to venture.

I have meltdowns, but they were much worse when I was little. I don't really have meltdowns in public now, but I kind of shut down. When I'm alone though I do have them and I've had times that I would cry for an hour straight. Sometimes I would cry on and off throughout the day. Doing some kind of activity that causes pain or exhaustion (like carrying or moving something heavy) seems to help me.

I mostly learned to avoid them as I grew up but not for the obvious reasons and not in a positive way. As a child I learned to shut down - and while that appears non-violent and keeps other people happy it can be incredibly damaging and therefore violent inside. Later (as in just a couple years ago), as an adult I started unrepressing everything and had to deal with learning how to not have meltdowns. I quickly learned that one does not simply stop a meltdown (insert funny Boromir / LOTR meme here). But as I got older I had more control over my life, and that allowed me to more often avoid the buildup that led to a meltdown.

Until we had kids, that is. That's when I realized that I'm incredibly sound - especially voice - sensitive. And auditory stimulation can easily ramp me up so fast toward a meltdown I don't have a chance to avoid it if I'm already upset or stressed or anxious or overstimulated. That and chaos, like knocking over a cup of coffee on a cluttered table or taking something from the top shelf of the pantry and causing an avalanche when it catches on something else. That's usually when I take whatever object was in my hand (coffee cup, box of tea, container of dry elbow macaroni) and throw it against the floor, or otherwise completely mung* it against the countertop.

I'm learning that I can identify that moment just before one and maybe I'll try just walking away for a few minutes. Might work, you know?

*Mash Until No Good (or recursively, Mung Until No Good)

I don't want to vote because Crying meltdowns are still pretty bad. They leave me drained for like two days. They aren't fun.

I haven't voted, because I used to have the odd meltdown, but now as I've got older, they have developed into crashes.
My meltdowns got me expelled from school at 11 years old and described as the most disruptive pupil in the history of the school. I can't sit still and used to get bored very quickly as I wanted to just read about animals. My meltdowns as a child used to be extremely violent.