Are meltdowns only a symptom of autism or...

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Are Autistics the only people who have 'meltdowns' per se, or are there other disorders that have meltdowns as a symptom?

I ask because a friend of a friend (or maybe she is an actual friend I'm not really sure) would often suddenly/abruptly excuse herself and leave for an extended (or permanent) period of time when this group of friends would congregate. Or would sometimes do other things that would make people later say "omg wtf that was so socially inappropriate" (I of course, tend to be really oblivious when I'm in such a large group so my reaction was more like "oh...? ok...")

I know this girl tends to have issues of depression but I think that has more to do with being caught between multiple cultures. Anyway, do you think the sorts of reactions that she had would be termed 'meltdowns'?

I'm only guessing here, but I would think that other disorders which involve heightened stress have meltdowns, too. But they might be refered to as something else.

That's my best guess. Someone else might know better than I.

I think that any disorder which increases the amount of stress or makes stress harder to deal with can cause meltdowns.

Depending on the situation, I think it's possible for anyone, including NTs, to have meltdowns.

My brother's NT girlfriend usually goes through more meltdowns before breakfast than I've had in my life.

I'd guess most anxiety disorders, like OCD, PTSD, agoraphobia or specific phobia, and obviously panic disorder.

Add on Sensory Integration Dysfunction or what they now called Sensory Processing Disorder would likely to cause a meltdown too.

Any person can reach breaking point, yet for us, it's 'easier' to. We live in a harsh world...

We have so many triggers, but still, yes, NT's can be pushed over the edge as well. We're just renown for melting and crumbling over things NT's may find trivial, and ours tend to verge on dramatic, (I had a meltdown in public-ruined a relationship that I held dear.) but still, yes, it's not ONLY us who can crumble.

I think meltdown is basically any situation where a person get extremely angry or upset frequently. If it is infrequent, it is just called 'getting angry/upset' or 'chucking a wobbly'. At least, that's what I think!

I think all people can have meltdowns. The only difference is that those on the spectrum have more stress to deal with and as such, would experience more meltdowns.

In fact, a few weeks ago, a bus driver that I am sure is an NT had a meltdown.

PhoenixKitten wrote

Ok, analogy time: meltdowns are like someone wetting their pants because they are incontinent. Tantrums are like someone wetting their pants because they haven't been toilet trained. It may look the same on the outside, but it's not.

I think that NT's also have outbursts caused by stress. The difference is that Aspies experience stress in situations that wouldn't bother your average NT. I think I stick with what I said about anyone being able to have a meltdown, but that it's only really called a meltdown if it's severe and or frequent. It may look like the causes are different because an Aspie may meltdown over being touched, but it's still a case of an outburst caused by a stressful situation, it's just that NT's may be stressed by something like running late for work instead!

Hi Folks,

I think people with Prader Willi Syndrome can escalate to pretty intense episodes of out-of-control behaviour; they need high levels of structure to cope as do we.

Jim Crawford.