OuterBoroughGirl wrote:
I have hysterical crying jags (meltdowns?), complete with screaming, curling up in the fetal position, hitting inanimate objects and sometimes my own head, biting my fingers (not hard), and other inanimate objects. These are generally caused by being exhausted, overwhelmed with stress, not having time to decompress and mentally "recharge," too many schedule disruptions, etc, etc, etc... Recently, there have been an inordinate number of demands on my time and energy. I've been under a lot of pressure, and it's affecting my sleep. Thus, I've been having a LOT of meltdowns. I had a small scale one Saturday, a massive one yesterday, and another massive one this evening. At least I very seldom meltdown in public anymore, and the rare ones I do have in public (on the Subway when it's moving too slowly) are generally quite mild. Of course, having massive meltdowns in my apartment isn't ideal, as the walls in my building are thick. I can only imagine what the neighbors must think.
I think a big part of what does it for me is trying to deal with too much information faster than my brain is equipped to process. Incidentally, I seem to be much more sensitive to sensory stimuli such as noises when I'm in or close to a meltdown. In those states, any sudden unexpected sound can be painful.
I cry from all of this stuff as well. One time my husband wanted me to meet some of his friends. We met 2 other couples at a restaurant. After we ate they all had the idea to go to a mall. I managed to stay at the mall one hour and started to fall apart. It took me 24hrs of being totally alone to pull myself back together. Since then I've learned to limit my sovcial contact and I stay away from malls.