Do these look like meltdowns or something else?

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My mom tells me that even as a baby and toddler I would frequently have angry outbursts, and as I was so young I obviously couldn't explain why, but even later on when these fits continued throughout elementary school, I either wouldn't tell them what upset me, or couldn't. I don't really know, but I would bet it was because I didn't know how to explain it or didn't understand it in the first place, as I still feel like this to an extent when I get frustrated about things. She said she was usually very confused, I would just flip out seemingly out of nowhere and hit myself on the head or hit and throw things, cry, scream etc.; I did this at school, home, others' homes, anywhere.

Sometimes I would get frustrated with toys, and that was obvious to her, but she still didn't know what reason I actually had to be so angry at it. One of the only times she could tell what the reason was is when I was putting those different shaped blocks (square, circle, triangle etc.) into the box with holes made for each specific shape. If it didn't go in the hole I wanted she said I would continue to try to jam it in, and eventually get extremely frustrated and angry, and throw open the lid, slam the block in, slam the lid shut... and then quietly go back to putting the shapes in the holes. I think I was 2 at the time. But I had fits like this all the time, pretty much every other day, and 99% of the time people had no idea what set me off. I would often get dragged to the office at school kicking and screaming, and they would call my mom and tell her to come and get me. I remember one time after getting sent home in 4th grade, my mom asked why I kicked my principal, and I remember being confused because I didn't remember doing it at all.

I don't have these kinds of fits anymore for the most part, at least not for reasons I can't attempt to explain. And they are almost never as severe as they were as a kid. I honestly don't believe I have a short fuse, but when I do get mad it's a point of no return, there is no grey area. I just have to wait for it to pass on it's own. When I try to keep myself from getting angry I often get bad headaches. Does that seem like a meltdown?

I have always called them "freak outs" myself, but I think they'd be properly termed as meltdowns.

I used to have some serious angry outbursts. Now, they are not so bad. I still get them, but they are less often, less severe, and shorter. I still get crying episodes, too. Those I have always termed meltdowns. Less severe, less often than they used to be.

Yep, that sounds like a pretty classic meltdown to me. They're often triggered by sudden or built up frustration, fear or anxiety, and look exactly the way you describe. My meltdowns didn't start until I was 18-19, because they are only triggered by anger or frustration, and when I was a kid, I rarely felt angry at anything; my most prominent emotions were (and to a large extent, still are) fear and anxiety, which would cause me to withdraw and avoid others, going into partial shutdown, but it never triggered meltdowns.

^^^ nice. My mother should have know the difference 40 years ago. so should have I. She said I used to have ALOT of tantrums. Quite sad actually. To get it wrong every time.