Define a melt down

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What might cause a mild melt down? And what exactly is a melt down?

I consider a meltdown to be a reaction that can be brought on by sensory overload or by just being otherwise overwhelmed and the person experiencing it is not in control of it, unlike a tantrum which would be brought on because the individual is not getting his or her own way.

A meltdown occurs when you come home and find that your boyfriend has a woman in bed with him! Actually, that's the stressor. The meltdown is when you go outside and casually kick out her car's side view mirrors which gets you three days in county jail.

And some personal examples of causes would be for when my autistic son was a baby the noises (flushing toilets and hand dryers) and lights in public restrooms would make him inconsolable, and a less extreme example would be for me to have several people trying to talk to me at once which causes me physical pain although I don't get sent over the edge I will have to put my hands over my ears and make them speak one at a time or leave, trying to drive a car also puts me on the verge of one so I can't.

Could a change in plans cause a melt down?

What would a melt down caused by change plans be like?

What I don't get is how severe a meltdown has to be to count as a meltdown? I either have major meltdowns (maybe once every two months) caused by emotional and sensory overload or I have minor meltdowns (if you can call them that) when plans change for example. When plans change I usually get angry, upset and feel like I want to cry or hit things while major meltdowns are much more aggressive/violent/severe.

I've had meltdowns from changes in plans. I had a big one somewhat recently. It kind of confused me because it was a change that most people would be happy about if it happened. My youth group was going to a soccer game then a concert afterwards and I didn't get tickets to go and didn't really want to anyways. I had gone before, but I'm not good with going out places. My mom apologized for not buying me a ticket and I said I was fine. I had my friday planned out for myself. I was taking a nap (part of my plan) and my mom called back excited and said they had extra tickets for me to go and my mom told them I would go. I got really upset. I threw my phone a couple times, slammed some doors (which I never do), threw my stuff off my desk, punched my wall a couple times (made of cement, my room is the basement) threw other stuff around, and started crying. To add on, I couldn't find what I needed to take with me and also didn't want to upset my mom because she wanted me to be happy. I got to the church, and I had to hold in tears, but my mom called the youth pastor and told him "I didn't feel good" and she picked me up.

Usually when I get meltdowns though, it's just me first trying to not cry, but then start yelling and end up crying then going to my room to be alone for a while in till I'm back to normal. Sometimes I fall asleep then wake up and be ok, and sometimes it might go into the next day. If it takes to the next day, then I don't talk to anyone in till I'm better.

That's how my meltdowns are. So, how over you would describe those, then there you go.

Interesting thread.
Since I just recently found out that I have As, I didn´t know about meltdowns.
I have been speculating if I have meltdowns and how they work.

It is easier to give a concrete example:
If I have been on the job the whole day and then have to rush to pick up the children at the daycare. Have to cook in a hurry (hungry children), the twins (two years) are tired, crying alternatively. Then suddenly the too loud sound of the radio or the mindless sounds of a Wii game will make me angry/extremely upset(?) or some feelink like that (that I am not quite able to describe) and I have to turn off the radio, yell at the children to turn of the sound of the Wii and generally get in a very bad mood. It is af if, the background sound of the radio (or something else) just overwhelms everything else and triggers "something".

I find it a bit difficult to explain, as I have never really thought about it before. My dad behaves the same way, which used to scare me when I was a child.

I know that if I had the chance to sit down with a quiet cup of tea and a book for ½-1 hour after getting home and before having to take care of everything else - everything would be ok.

Would this be considered a melt down?

Helle

Reading alle the posts about meltdown, I realized I have one or more meltdowns almost every day.