Are Meltdowns Always "Violent"/Physical?

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I've just been diagnosed with Asperger's a few days ago, and I'm wondering, does a meltdown always have to be "physical", as in throwing a "fit" or a "tantrum"? I have a tendency to start intensely sobbing when I feel stressed, I have started to cry during school more than once (in the middle of class too) and I felt like I had no control over my own emotions. Sometimes I dig my nails into my skin and it makes it feel better...

Do you this counts as a meltdown?

Depressive meltdowns are meltdowns too.

No, they don't always have to be "Violent"/Physical.

Mine are uncontrollable crying - in my head I'm angrily ranting and plotting the demise of whoever it was who sent me into the meltdown, but it is a quiet crying I have no control over which shows to the rest of the world during my meltdowns. I will grip my hands tightly or bite down on things to try to stop myself crying occasionally too, nothing works. It was nice for me to learn the word 'meltdown' after so many years of doing this in the middle of classes at school or as an adult having crying fits without understanding why, and another helpful term I learned upon discovering I was an aspie was 'shut-down' which is similar to a meltdown but where upon you shut-down and stop interacting or communicating with the world around you when upset or overly stimulated.

Yeah, I either cry and lose my emotional control (and ability to speak), or I get violent. Both are meltdowns.

Mine are always emotional/depressive and I usually cry during a meltdown. Either that, or I shut right up.

I hurt a friend quite badly when I was 10, before I know anything about aspergers.
But nothing since, partly becuase I was told to keep an eye on my anger.
Now I have an awarness of when its happening and when it's coming and
although I'm not very rational my memory works, I have very simple rules:
Don't touch anyone,
Don't talk to anyone unless to make the standard excuse:
I have to go to the ATM, Bathroom. Or just I have to go.
Then leave the vacinity
Find a place with no people that is as dark and quite as possible

and just ride it out.

Self control will partaly come with maturity but meltdowns are painful, confusing angry messes.
You might be able to help him get an awarness to warn you.

I feel a couldyness, a dull ache as I get closer. My thoughts and reactions aren't as quick.
If it's been a tough day and you ask him a simple question and he doesn't respond for a few seconds
and he's looking spacier than usual it might be good to start rationing his sensory input, I generaly
have a granola bar and water too. I've gotten pretty good at avoiding them now, havn't had a full one
in nearly two years. They SUCK on the inside too.

This is interesting. I haven't really thought about this.

Most of the time I shut down when emotions start running high because I'll openly admit I usually have no idea how to deal with them. I have a pretty short temper which may lead to a meltdown, especially around those who have repeatedly offended me, no matter how slight. Unfortunately, most of my rage these days falls down on the heads of the two six-year-olds in my family who know just the right buttons to push to get me to erupt. On the bright side, my meltdowns are rather moderate compared to others I've heard of, and mine are solely vocal. Rage combined with problems deciding if something is inappropriate to say or not can't end well. At the worst, I end up dragging old problems back from the deep and reopening old wounds. In the end a lot of people get angry at me, but no real harm is done. I apologize when I get myself back under control.

Yes. Mine are usually with me crying and screaming and yelling at people or having an outburst. I can throw things during a meltdown or slam things. Sometimes I start stimming like crazy but that happens when I am heading for one. I was told it's a form of it too. This behavior used to get me into trouble at school until 6th grade after I got diagnosed. In high school, I be sent back to the special ed room when I have one of my episodes. I used to think it was a punishment but it wasn't. If I were to get punished, I'd be getting lunch detention or in school suspension. I did get kicked out of sewing class three years ago for having a meltdown. But honestly I didn't care because they could not help me in my own way that I needed so it wasn't the right class for me. I just forgot about my own needs because I had not been in school for years so I thought I do fine on my own without an aid.


I have even left in middle of class too and I never got in trouble for it, maybe it was written in my IEP that I can leave when I get frustrated or overwhelmed. Then I be back in class. I only did this when I was getting overloaded from noise. Then I started to bring ear plugs to school so i wouldn't have to keep leaving class. Teens can be so loud.

I'm more likely to have crying episodes along with physical agitation (eg. throwing arms up in the air or trying to run from the situation). Occasionly i can get struck with or overwhelmed with feelings of extreme anger. this makes my head feel like it's about to explode. i literally feel like a human volcano. when this happens, i try to distance myself from people as much as possible. Only because i say things i don't really mean, or i can start screaming and yelling abuse at people. Thankfully this only happens on occasion. i have never been physically violent. As i'm getting older, i'm now 23, i am learning to spot the warning signs. I usually begin to stim like crazy, or embarrassingly, start to mutter to myself under my breath. I've never noticed this, but my mother says i can begin to rock too if I'm feeling agitated. I don't have as many crying episodes as i used to though, so i guess i'm just getting better at coping with changes/situations that affect me negatively.

It all depends on what caused the meltdown. If I was in a badmood and the meltdown happens I will become angry/violent. If I was not angry and I meltdown then I will just pace back and forth to try and calm down.

As for me, I used to show aggression by yelling or via body language but not violence.

However, nowadays I internalize the "reaction" and as a result, the "meltdown" manifests itself is either sleeping (tuning out) or less frequently - crying/being sad.

Though, I don't cry often. Mostly keep it to myself

As for the quotation marks, they are there to show approximation; i.e, a "reaction" could also mean a "response" to over-stimuli... if that makes sense.

f**k.

This.

I usually tend to freak out and sometimes hyperventalate pace abit depending on the mood or how stressed I am. Most of the time I shut myself off and hold my feelings in and try to control it and let it out when I am alone.Most of my violent meltdowns 90% of them are when I am alone and it is usually involved with self harm.I do not harm others unless someone is trying to pick a fight with me in this mode, then that person deserves to be punched in the face I feel great guilt afterwards though.

Oh!!
Interesting thread. I didn't even know what a "meltdown" was until I read this
Explains a lot. Glad there's a name for it... and in all their different forms.
(I'm only recently diagnosed)

This is a very interesting topic for me. I've never been certain if I have meltdowns or not. I'm officially diagnosed with Asperger's, but it's hard for me to point to any particular behaviour that could be classified as a meltdown. It doesn't help that I can't remember my childhood and adolescence very clearly.

What I do remember is that meltdowns definitely didn't happen at school. I controlled myself there. But at home I could go a bit crazy sometimes, mainly by lashing out at my mother (mostly verbally, very occasionally physically). Meltdown? I don't know. I also remember occasionally taking out my anger on objects by doing violence to them.

In my teens and adult years I've had long bouts of depression that lasted for months after life got too much. I don't know if this counts as a meltdown of sorts, or maybe a shutdown - you don't really have to be autistic to go through one of those. I managed to force myself to operate and continued to go to work or uni during these times, but it was zombie me. The real me was hiding under a mental rock.

I was especially emotionally unstable when I was in my only lasting relationship with a girl (about two years ago). I cried a lot when I couldn't bear my convulsing emotions any more. As a child I used to cry when I felt guilty of my emotional outburst (anger, running away and hide in my room, slamming doors, at least one time breaking the door-glass with my wrist) or reluctance to do what I should have done, or when I got hurt feelings over something.

I must admit it's no better in adulthood. Sometimes I'd get angry over rather unimportant and pointless things like a train being late or the ticket controller being rather stupid (in my opinion), but my biggest issue now is road-rage when I'm cycling on my bike. Part of it must be sensory overstimulation and feelings of insecurity.