was this a meltdown?

Post Reply New Topic

As I have only recently been told that I am likely to have Aspergers (unofficially by psychologist), I am still trying to make sense of things.

Yesterday I had an episode which I don't know whether would be classed as a meltdown.

It started in the morning. It all seems pretty trivial now as I write this

I'm very sensitive to hunger and thirst and I had got thirsty and was starting to get a headache. By the time I could get a drink I was getting a feeling of agitation and what felt like a panic attack starting. I actually felt like I could cry.

In the afternoon my husband and I had a bit of a disagreement. I can't stand any form of emotional conflict so I will usually avoid at all costs.

Then as we were eating dinner my husband made a comment that I had done too much spaghetti. This pushed me over the edge and I just had an overwhelming urge to cry. I had to leave the room and had a good cry for 15 minutes.

Does this sound like a meltdown?

yes i think so.

your on the bridge of a meltdown, its called rumbling.

sometimes characterized as tenseness, sensitivity and overall the inability to deal with any type of stress. I can tell im rumbling when i cant get comfortable in my own skin and cant deal with any changed in my routine. I start hyperventilating, pacing, my voice gets louder, i pull my hair. i feel like someone is shocking my back and my muscles are tensing up. at this point, anything bad happens and im off the rails.

a meltdown is much more dramatic and loss of control. my meltdowns involve me throwing anything in close range, hitting myself, screaming, crying, cussing, bitting, hitting and hurting anyone around me. its all reaction, i dont think of any of this nor can i control myself.

Crying is VERY good to avoid a meltdown, its a healthy way to release tenseness and any pent up emotions.

I'm also a rumbler. Getting into conflicts and other types of social stress cause me to rumble. I'm also very mindful at work, so I can prevent rumbling in that setting. A handful of customers at the bank that I work at are classified as being difficult. When I'm not at work, I cry if I need to. I try to restrict it to the privacy of my own home, because my older friend can't handle sensitive people and I don't need her telling me that I need to talk to someone. I mean the female friend who's older in age out of my two friends.

Doesn't sound like a full blown meltdown to me. Like somebody else said, my meltdowns are a lot more than just getting overwhelmed and crying. Usually there is a lot of painful screaming, throwing myself on the floor, complete loss of control, etc. Not to say that everybody has meltdowns in the same way, but I think there would be a greater loss of control than just crying. Sounds more like things were building and was de-escalated before ever reaching meltdown point.

From what I have read female and male asd meltdown differ greatly. Males tend to get angry outbursts which are much more physical and sometimes violent. Whereas females tend to internalise their overwhelming emotions and are more prone to crying outbursts. I get these types of meltdowns when I've had a stressful day either socially or sensory and things all get too much.

I can see, that I know the rumbling and even as an adult, I have had a few times, when I had to inflict pain on myself in order to calm down.
As a kid I did so often, because, I had a temper and was so angry, I could neither stop it nor be in it and it just escalated until I cried. I guess, that must have been meltdowns.

I'm not sure whether there is an official definition of a meltdown, and if there is one, there's probably more than one. However since you described having "a good cry" I would guess it wasn't a meltdown because meltdowns don't seem good. I also think people can control themselves during a meltdown to varying degrees but most often it won't make sense to others and it's hard to communicate effectively during a meltdown. You're likely to feel hyper focused on some things and may not be aware of other things at all. And you're likely to feel exhausted after a meltdown.

...2