Dealing with a meltdown and how to deal and cope with it:

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People with Asperger’s and High Functioning Autism often get overwhelmed, experience anxiety, and often express frustration. On extreme cases they may get so anxious or frustrated that they get into a state where they struggle to think through challenges in a logical way. During these kinds of situations, they feel hopeless, stuck, can’t see an obvious solution to a problem, and often express extreme forms frustration, anger, and/or panic. It may be hard to calm down or get a person to calm down and reason until they calm down on their own. This is called a meltdown. They usually happen when a person is extremely overwhelmed and it usually lasts for a brief period of time. Meltdowns are never fun. I however learned some ways in which how an individual can deal and cope with them.
The first thing you can do to help deal with a meltdown is to allow the person to have some alone time, even if it’s a five minute break! When a person is getting overwhelmed and having a meltdown, it is very important to give them a break to stop what they are doing and even be a lone if they prefer it. When an individual grants a lone time, even five minutes, it can do wonders in regards to helping them get their bearings. Having them stop what they are doing allows them time to process all the thoughts that are becoming overwhelming in the first place. When an individual is able to process their thoughts, solutions to problems start arising, and anxiety wanes. Furthermore, a break prevents a bad stressful situation from quickly escalating. On extreme cases people that have unchecked meltdowns can end up breaking things. Instead, having a break can prevent such things from happening while also helping them get back on track.
The second thing you can do to help alleviate a meltdown is to talk calmly to individual and don’t touch them. Talking calmly to an individual shows the individual that you care and it relaxed them. When an individual is having a meltdown, they are struggling and don’t like it. They want to figure out a solution; how to get out of the maze they are in that’s causing suffering. Showing them you care is a start and that will immediately help them feel less anxious. When people are having extreme forms of anxiety, they become extra sensitive to their surrounding environment. Every form of stimulus becomes more intensified. Even the smallest sounds become annoying for an individual. With that said, a person having a meltdown is having extreme anxiety. Most individuals on the spectrum are sensitive to touch, and even for many who aren’t, touching is the last thing you should think about doing. Due to their sensitivity during this very moment, body contact could often result them lashing out and even becoming more upset. Always ask if they want to be touched. Show them you care. Give them permission to talk about it if they want to but don’t insist it if they don’t want to. The main objective is to allow time for them to calm down.
The third thing you can do to help an individual cope with a meltdown is to have the individual learn mindfulness. Have the individual understand that stressful situations may seem overwhelming at the time, but it’s actually not as bad as it may currently seem. Have the individual understand how pain and negative emotions are actually caused by our own belief systems. Your belief systems give birth to conditions that cause you to react in different ways- in a positive pleasurable way or a negative fear based/suffering way. These beliefs can be changed by simply changing the perspective on it. “is the cup half empty or half full?” Everything is perspective. It is possible to actually enjoy things that have previously made you suffer by simply changing your belief system or perspective on it. Everything has a hidden positive trait, or blessing if you wish. Embracing the blessing on everything will bless and bring a lot more pleasure into your life making it more fulfilling. This can really help prevent meltdowns if an individual really learns this on a deep level. Learning this takes practice but the more determined an individual is in learning something, the quicker he/she can master this. Understanding how beneficial this is can help an individual become more determined.
Finally, the fourth thing you can do to help an individual when having a meltdown is to allow person to think of ways in advanced to prepare and minimize the severity of a meltdown when it does happen. Have the person think of ways in which he feels could helps him during a meltdown. Have the individual write some ways on a piece of paper. One tip is making step by step plans in how to deal with a meltdown that will work for him/her. They can write out a list of actions- a step by step plan to fallow when a meltdown happens to get them out of it. Another tip is helping them write inspiration quotes that they can think of or say to themselves on the spot to help get them out of a meltdown too. Some examples of some quotes include:
“This may seem hard right now but I can get out of this quicker then I think if I put my mind to it.”
“Everything happens for a reason.”
“Aim for the moon because even if you miss, you’ll still land in the stars.”
“Everything is perspective.”
“Suffering is a state of mind.”
Individuals with Autism, Asperger’s, or High Functioning Autism often struggle with extreme panic, anger, hopefulness, and anxiety that causes them to often not mentally reason well if they become too overwhelmed and this is called a meltdown. They often don’t last long but they can be hard deal with. Fortunately, you’ve learned that there are three ways in how to deal and cope with it when it does happen. One important way is to allow them to take a break and calm down. Secondly, is to be calm and gentle with the individual but doing so by not touching them. Third, is to have the individual learn mindfulness. Fourth is to help the individual come up with ways on a piece of paper to help prepare them ways that can help them deal with meltdowns in the future. These are some of the main things I’ve learned that is helpful in such a situation. If you personally know any other ways that you find helpful please share your incite. I believe the more knowledge, tips, and incite towards helping individuals with Asperger’s with their struggles, the more there struggles can be helped as a whole. I hope you find this blog helpful!
James Edwin Hackett IV