Do you ever get 'semi-meltdowns'?

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Sometimes i get stuck somewhere between normality and a meltdown state, does this happen to anyone else? Where you still have your functionality but can feel the pangs of a meltdown coming on?

This happened to me today.

I do on occasion, and I use that as a warning to get out of whatever the situation is that's putting me under pressure. It's a feeling of partial disconnect and panic, I guess, describes it best. Usually it's when several things; maybe several people telling me several things at once, or I'm on the phone and a text message noise comes up, and the dogs bark, and a train goes by blowing the horn. Situations like that. If it's among people who I don't share autism details with, I just excuse myself to the bathroom (even if I don't have to go), or whatever seems reasonable, and come back in a minute. If it's with people close to me, I tell it like it is and tell them "this is too much; hold up a bit".

Charles

Yes, and it can be like trying to stop a train-wreck (to use a euphemism). I guess I have quasi-meltdowns. Sometimes, instead of having a full meltdown, I can sort-of lose control of my emotions, like being unable to stop tears or even giggling inappropriately.

Yes, almost daily and definitely more often than any complete meltdown. If I can get away from the cause, I tune out the world for a while and then I'm fine. At home, I curl up on my bed until I feel better and zone out at the tv. I hate it when people inquire about me, because I don't want to worry them but just can't/won't talk until I can get some calm. That's where an invisibility cloak would come in handy.

Last edited by MjrMajorMajor on 01 May 2013, 12:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes. I can tell I'm overwhelmed and need to do something to keep a full-blown meltdown from hitting. If possible, I remove myself from the situation. If not, I just sit there quietly without talking or paying attention, and try to think about my current area-of-interest project. If other people refuse to let me withdraw, I go ballistic.

I get them if I'm being overwhelmed, and can feel tears come to my eyes and the world around me becoming a confusing blur, but I can just get out of it by, as said earlier, claiming to need the bathroom or needing to be some place. It's happening more now I'm getting older, since I am wanting to avoid a full-on meltdown publicly, and so just need to escape for a minute and can deal with it by making everything making sense. If I'm alone and not being directed at, as so that's not the cause of it, I shut my eyes and put my hands over my ears and focus on something else, telling myself I am perfectly alright. Both are good coping methods for me. I hate it so much it people see me have a full-on meltdown, but something like that can be passed off as me having a headache or just being stressed.

Yes, though my functionality quickly goes down, sometimes I get stuck or "frozen" when I get overloaded.

Can one still have a meltdown (with no speech available, self-injurious behavior, and loss of understanding) without crying? Been exhausted afterwards...

Last edited by Lumi on 01 May 2013, 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I never have full meltdown like "the world blur" and so on. Though I do get kind of panic attacks which could be considered as semi-meltdowns I guess, my heartbeat quickens, I can't think properly, sometimes I shiver with no reason besides that... That usually happens once a month during one day, I can't stop it. Otherwise it sometimes happens but I can calm myself quickly.

I also get panic attacks and have just been diagnosed with Panic Disorder (an upgrade or downgrade from GAD...I guess). I think of this as a bit different than the shutdown/meltdown thing.

I get half shutdowns where I lose the ability to speak and feel very distant from everything and know that it's time to get away and to a quiet, calm or private place where I can recover.

Yes. I can feel it rising and I have to resolve it (usually by removing myself from the situation where I can).

I guess you're right. Though that's kinda weird, I can't exactly remember how it was in my childhood, over time I learned to sound a lot more like a neurotypical in certain aspect of life. I believe that somehow I learned to keep myself more... conscious, like I will sound distant, I may be pale or something, I will have a hard time speaking and thinking, but I won't completely shutdown anymore.