What is a Melt Down?

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I am asking because I never had one. Maybe I get depressed and apathetic after a few hours in a social/party gathering. So what about you folks, what:

1. Precipitates the meltdown
2. How do you feel/act during the meltdown
3. How do you deal with it and feel afterwards

kk hope to get some good answers from you

It's like an emo hissy fit or a two-year-old's temper tantrum, but with much more screaming and violence. Anything could precipitate it, but it usually has something to do with a person's demands and expectations not being met.

There's screaming, insults, swearing, semi-coherent accusations, and lot's of thrashing about, hitting, and throwing things.

How most folks seem to feel afterwards is "justified."

How do you differentiate between a temper tantrum and a melt down - are you saying these aggressive/anti-social behaviors - hittins and swearing - cannot be controlled by the individual. Can't they express their melt down in a non-aggressive manner by hitting a pillow or something or yelling at the wall?

A temper tantrum is a toddler's way of expressing frustration and anger.

A meltdown is an adolescent or an adult having a temper tantrum.

I suppose they could express their feelings in a more constructive way if they knew how, and they actually wanted to.

But some folks seem to get stuck in an infantile crisis-management mode, and don't (or won't) grow up out of it.

The foregoing is just my opinion, by the way. I am not a behavioralist or mental-health professional. So take what I say on this topic with the proverbial grain of salt.

I agree, but there are clinical modalities that can help adults manage their melt downs, correct?

I don't agree with the statement I bolded up there. A meltdown is usually caused by some sort of overload on the senses, while a temper tantrum is just a lot of frustration let out in a really immature way.

I assume so, but a person has to want to embrace those modalities.


Isn't frustration also caused by an overload of the senses? Isn't meltdown behavior an immature way of expressing one's emotional state?

I think we're referring to the same thing from different perspectives.

I CANNOT control my meltdowns. I can control what I do to a certain extent. and I can also hold them in till I get to my house. but If i feel one coming it comes out one way or another.

I usually hit myself and cry.

I hit myself because it is the only way I know how to get my senses working correctly again. It is kind of like hitting the reset button.

This is what my meltdowns look like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-tGimFA ... re=related

You can see why I have to do them in private.

I am ashamed of it but I don't know how not to have them . So I go to my room and have my melt down as quietly as possible so i don't disturb anyone.

Many things trigger my meltdowns mostly sensory stimulus .
Sometimes when people are making a chewing noise it triggers a meltdown . I don't know why that noise drives me nuts but it does.

Hand movements such as talking with your hands.

Its all the little things, sadly. this is the reason I don't go out of my room except for a few times a day.



I feel overwhemed. I feel like I need to crawl outside of my body. (I know that sounds strange.)
I feel the need to get out an extreme amount of aggression , (but I always do it in a safe way).

I feel like I cant talk , not because I am unable to but because I'm scared.

I feel like I'm spinning wildly and holding onto something does nothing to slow the spinning down.
And I act exactly like the kid in the video except I don't scream, I cry. Although I did scream when I was younger. And I never ever throw things at people.



After a melt down I feel a release and I feel relaxed and calm.
The melt down is the only thing that releases the tension in me.

I'm with Fnord on this one. I'm sorry to say it, but I think that the ones who have "meltdowns" are just weaker than others. I've had many situations where I knew I would've lost control if I hadn't been strong enough to beat it. Face it, some people just can't handle the extremes, and they react by "melting down". People who've led a rough life are less likely to "melt' because they've been de-sensitized to extremes that some have never experienced.

Well in my case that is not true. I was abused all through my childhood. I should have been de-sensitized by it but the meltdowns persist.

This may not be the same for everyone but for me this is the case.

I'm not discounting what your saying though. On average this may be true. But in my case it is not.

^No problem. I'm not that familiar with meltdowns myself, I was just stating the impression I got from my experience here, plus some stuff that I read. I don't believe there many(if any) absolute "truths" anywhere in psychology(and related fields).

I agree with that ^ 100%

Besides everyone is different so something that may effect me one way may effect someone else complete different.

I can't tell if what I have are meltdowns or tantrums and they also only happen at home, but here it is anyway.

1. Precipitates the meltdown
anger, frusatration or any sort of overwhelming emotion, or if it's when I'm facing my phobia/fears
2. How do you feel/act during the meltdown
cry alot, hit myself (when I'm on my own), get irritable, shout, swear, lock myself away in my room for ages and not talking to anyone
3. How do you deal with it and feel afterwards
after it's over I feel refreshed but still slightly fragile

Most of my meltdowns have been verbal explosions (people crowding around me is a very unpleasant experience), but the last one was somewhat more serious: I started slicing at my arm with a letter-opener.

Didn't draw any blood, mind you, but it was still the result of an intense emotional reaction which I just couldn't handle...

Yes when I was getting back repressed memories of my past I bit myself. luckily I didn't draw blood either, I was able to get control of myself in time.

I guess stress causes my meltdowns as well as anxiety and sensory overload.

And by the way I'm glad your ok MrSinister