Who here doesn't have meltdowns?

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I don't have as many meltdowns as I used to. I had them all the time in my teens because of school and that causes stress and people around me. Plus I had them at home too when I finished school because of my brothers and their parties and then I had them less when they figured out the "Beth rules." They learned to be quiet and not make so much noise and I wouldn't even notice they were having a party because they be so quiet. I no longer had a problem with them having lot of people over. I had them at work too but once I learned to deal with changes and being flexible and doing work that isn't part of my job, I had to use logic to get through it like if I do work that wasn't part of my job, I can put it on my resume or work application and use it as my work experience to make it easier for me to get jobs in the future and it's more money. I also learned to try something first and don't assume it will take forever or assume it will be bad unless I do it first or else I had anxiety for no reason.

Then I had them less when I lived on my own but they came back when I was in relationships and with my husband, I hardly have any because he doesn't cause them.

I am more prone to meltdowns when I am stressed out because then my anxiety comes out more and I get them. Even with my baby crying when I am already stressed puts me into a shut down I can't even take care of him so I just leave him crying not doing anything. Maybe when he is older he will learn him getting upset when I am upset will make it worse so he must stay calm and not show it and leave me be. But he's a baby and doesn't understand what's going on and husband says it's child abuse to just put him in his crib and shut the door.

I have also learned to stay more calm when I see unexpected things like when the company decides to raise the price and it upsets me deeply. I blame it on my money obsessions and my constant worry about going broke so I hate it when bills go up but if they are lower, no reaction. But sometimes I regress because I can't move on or stop thinking about it nor talking about it and I am very very upset so I meltdown because of the situation. I am always worried about surprises and unexpected things so I always want to save save save and not spend it on fun stuff for just in case. It's my way of preventing anxiety but the problem is, it puts stress on my husband because then he can't spend it on fun stuff so that stresses him out while I am all calm and happy. So he decided to handle the fiances saying I can't handle it because I get too upset when too much money gets spent or when we get low in our bank account and I was chewing him out for spending a dollar, yes literally a dollar.

I do avoid situations also that causes me stress but I have also learned to stay calm so I won't have a meltdown. Calm enough that is. But if I have other things going on, I tend to have one. Just like it was described in the book "There is something Different About dad" and it's about her father who has AS and it was all these comics in the book and she mentioned about how the glass keeps getting filled with water and when it get's filled to the top, he freaks out. That is me and I thought that was a good description about anxiety and the stress. You can only handle it for so long until something is the last straw and then you freak out and then the whole process starts all over again. Wait until the cup gets filled and then freak out when it's full.

Sorry Syrella, I mean to direct my message at Subotai instead! It was too late before I realized I wrote down the wrong person's name

Nope. I generally do not show any more emotion than Spock. That's not to say I don't get angry from time to time, like earlier today for instance, but I can control myself and not do anything stupid. I do not get shutdowns either.

I rarely have meltdowns anymore. Less because of self-control, and more because the direction my movement disorder has taken. The meltdown still plays itself out in my head, but it can't get to my body. I feel my body moving inside my head and yet it doesn't move outside my head. While I feel as if I'm falling into a hole further and further away from the world.

I no longer have meltdowns. I used to, they were terrible messy tantrums when I felt overwhelmed. This stopped when I was working overtime one day and accidentally set off the alarm. I wanted to freak out and run away, but knew that I would lose my job if I did. I had to calm down, call the security alarm company and follow their instructions to deactivate the alarm. Having done this successfully, I realized that if I remained calm I could deal with most things much more easily.

I do still suffer from overstimulation. If too much is going on (like at a fairground or convention) or if I'm in a store with too much stuff to look at I'll end up wandering around like a zombie, shuffling my feet and looking up and down and all around, losing track of time. I get like this in big box stores like Home Depot.

I'm not a nuclear reactor

I had meltdowns pretty much once an hour as a kid. I grew out of it and was melt-down free for many years until about a year ago, I've had one since - they're rare, but certainly they're back again and as a result of the stress and helplessness of unemployment.

Well...I say meltdown free, it depends on what counts as a meltdown. I count meltdowns as crying uncontrollably like a baby while running an internal dialogue with myself being mad at myself for not telling whoever has triggered the meltdown to F-off before then totally shutting-down in terms of interacting with the outside world socially. But I have had 'shut-downs' as an adult - this is where I shut-down any social interaction, only without the crying, that has occurred a few times in the past due to very specific situations.

I think it's probably quite likely that people on the spectrum can go their whole lives without having a meltdown, it's like so many other things with autism how it effects us can differ not just from person to person but it can also be down to our mental state, the better we are mentally the less our symptoms show and the better we can cope.

I haven't had one in 11 months.

I don't have meltdowns, but it might be my strict pacifistic ideology. I do, however, have shutdowns in overly stressful situations. My voice becomes monotone and I speak as little as I can get away with (at work, I can't be mute). It helps if I get a chance to sit for a few minutes in my office with the door closed, though.

This is one major reason why I doubt I have aspergers. I've never had "melt-downs" except maybe when I was 3 (Good ole' temper tantrums). I have encountered stressful situations where I *felt* the urge to do something drastic in response, though.

Well, there was that one time when I holed myself up in the bathroom for 2 hours during Senior Prom because the idea of dancing for 2 straight hours seemed unbearably boring and silly. Maybe that's a melt-down... hmmm...

I don't get meltdowns or shutdowns. Unless withdrawing into myself and rocking back and forth while daydreaming with counts as anything.

I know an aspie who has never had one either he says.

No, I've never had one either, although I've been close to it when extremely emotionally overloaded. It often took me several hours to calm down inside after that happened. It's very stressful when you're simultaneously wanting to scream at the top of your voice, run away, and curl up into a ball and hide until it's all over, while at the same time having your rational brain kicking in and stopping you. Then the conflicting emotions makes it worse. Ugh.

I've noticed a lot of people on this reply talked about withdrawing into themselves is this an aspie/autism state, because I've been doing it all my life. Sometimes it's a fantasy world other times due to stress others just blank stare. Sorry if this is off topic but I noticed many replies here stating this traight.

It's not diagnostic, just common in Aspies.

I can't honestly say I've ever had one either. I went a tad "hysterical" once when I was under colossal stress, and couldn't control my breathing for a while, but I'd rate that as a panic attack. I remember my mother belting me and saying something about not standing for "tantrums," so if I ever did have meltdowns, I must have been conditioned out of them. And self-control is very strong in my family. I'm the most stable, unshakeable person I know, at least on the outside.

Meltdowns are just one way of coping that other aspies might do something opposite... blow up in rage, or shut down into something slightly catatonic.