Can someone please explain what a "meltdown? is?

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I have never been able to feel anger to THINGS going wrong, just frozed a moment while going through the alternatives left and taken the most possible way of handling the situation.

I can't bang on things. Unless nessecary. Because things is just items. And if ya wreck something, it just cost you and thats it.

The feeling that Krex described, the feeling that you want to cut yourself, because when you meltdown you feel too much 'in your head' and you want to connect again with your body. Yes, I can understand that. I feel it like the head has severed connections with the body.

I don't feel any emotions with meltdown, it's just like a computer crash, I can't take in any more information and I can't understand what someone is saying to me. I feel like my head is completely stuffed full and refusing to take in any new stuff. The next day I usually feel 'raw' like I've been skinned, very sensitive to everything, noise especially. It takes me a few days to 'grow my skin back' if you know what I mean. To feel strong enough to function poperly. System overload I'd call it.

walk-in-the-rain posted this link: http://thiswayoflife.org/blog/?p=69

and I found the author to be very empathetic and a helpful article overall.


"Clearly meltdowns and shutdowns are complex, and clearly they very rarely get the analysis they should.... A meltdown/shutdown indicates “We’ve got a MAJOR problem” - and the problem is not that a meltdown occurred, but rather something is going on which the autistic person simply is unable to cope with - and that isn’t going to be changed by punishing meltdowns or focusing on the trigger point."

"It’s about time the army of behaviorists actually do some REAL analysis of behavior, not just in name, but in action. It involves a lot more than noting that at the end of the school day Joel had a meltdown when a teacher asked him to turn to a certain page of the book. Instead it focuses on things like,
“What happened the rest of the day? What happened at home that day? What is the environment like for Joel, is his sensory system overloaded? What other stresses - it’s almost a given that the one stress of opening the book wasn’t enough, because the reaction would be out of proportion - happened?” It involves continuing to look until you see what the response was to."

A hint: It won’t be out-of-proportion. If it seems to be, you need to continue with the analysis part until you find all of the stresses."

When I've had meltdowns, I perceived my reaction to have been out of proportion along with everyone else who got to witness them. Reading this article helped because At times I can actually see that my meltdowns could be proportionate to the amount I'm dealing with.

For instance, why would something bother me more than at other times? It makes sense. It's cause maybe something accumulated to a point well past my tolerance level. Or maybe I had a ton of other things stress me out and just that one extra little thing made me snap.

I'm so used to putting up with uncomfortable experiences that I don't even know when I've thouroughly "had it!" And what's uncomfortable for me may not be as uncomfortable for someone else. But, I noticed that a lot of times the same things that hurt me also hurt others, even if they deny that it would bother them. I've tested that theory out.

Usually I have meltdowns rather than shutdowns. But I get shutdowns as well. Actually getting them more often these days.

The more I try to please everyone else, them more meltdowns I have. Inverse relationship.

Having a meltdown is the worst experience I have ever felt in my life. Feels like a complete loss of self awareness and control for me. I cannot stop them. My mother says that I made myself believe that I can't stop them. Oh well. I guess I just haven't thought enough about how to end the most terrible feelings that I could possibly ever feel. LOL. Silly me.

Therapies aim to prevent them these days. That's what I read anyway.

Actually its a girls you know what between her legs.