What is a meltdown ? examples and causes

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I think i have meltdowns when my mum nags constantly at me (she has an anxiety issues). I find my self trying to shout over it to block it out because shes telling me too many things to do. I run my finger through my hair crazyly.
My chest gets really tight like someones sucked all the breakout of me some times i put my head in my hands

is this a meltdown?

What causes your meltdowns?

How do you get your parents to work with you to not prevoke a meltdown?

Well at 28 I don't really have meltdowns anymore, except for maybe when my blood sugar gets too low. I used to have them when I was a teen, mostly related to cleanliness issues. When my brother put my clean laundry from the dryer into the dirty clothes basket, I freaked out. I still hate it when people walk into my house with shoes on, but over time I've learned to control myself.

My son, who's almost 3, has meltdowns all the time. His are mostly about stopping activities, like if I tell him to come inside and stop playing with his big wheel he'll cry for about 30 minutes or so. Sometimes it's little things in his routine, like if I walk a different route through the room than I normally do, he notices and freaks. I could probably list all day the things that make him have meltdowns, but I think as he gets older he will get better at coping.

Meltdown: An overwhelming sense of psychological overstimulation in which the brain stops processing and analyzing current input, leading to feelings of anxiety and even panic, a state of cognitive paralysis that leaves the autistic unable to think clearly, or rationally cope with the immediate situation. Usually resulting in a momentary emotional collapse, often leading to an agitated outburst : weeping, angry rants, sometimes physical tantrums that may at worst involve acting out, ie flailing about or breaking things.

As you may see described in posts on this site, triggers causing a meltdown may range from being verbally abused or badgered, to even slight unexpected changes in routine or environment, such as someone painting a wall in your home without consulting you on their color choice.

The potential for Meltdowns in autistics is lifelong, you do not outgrow them. However, during positive cycles in your life, you may go months or even years without encountering a Meltdown situation. Spending a lot of time around people insensitive to your condition increases the likelihood of recurrence, as does depression.

I wouldn't hope for too much in trying to convince an NT to cease a traumatizing behavior, since they can't comprehend how it's affecting you, and since it doesn't affect them that way, they generally don't care. It takes an extremely compassionate NT to even try to understand. But I have also seen some NT parents posting on here who very much do try. Good Luck.

As Willard said, basically.

For me the two necessary ingredients are:

(a) when the external world comes into violent opposition to my internal perception of the way things "should" be,

and (b) I am powerless to change the thing(s) that are creating the discord.

e.g.:

- I am trying to concentate, and hence need silence, but people are talking, maybe loudly on mobile phones, and I do not have any means of getting them to stop.

- I am told that I have to conform to some stupid rule at work that involves doing something that I would never ever do because it would mean selling out my principles &/or who I am.

- My train is cancelled when I need to be somewhere by a particular time, and not to make it would mean not doing an activity that is already planned into my day (and maybe already paid for).

All these, & many other, circumstances are capable of sending me into a meltdown - whether I actually have one or not would depend on how stressed I already was prior to the trigger event, how low my blood sugar was, whether I had PMS, & whether I had anyone with me to calm me down (although I may just end up yelling at them, of course!)

I am likely to end up ranting &/or screaming at someone, stamping my feet, jumping up and down on the spot, or throwing things, although I am unlikely to physically attack anyone (unless they try to restrain me or drag me away - I bit a nightclub bouncer once!)

It is like my "rational" self is watching it all & saying "You're going to regret this later" but my "monster" as I call it has got out of its cage & gone on the rampage.

The really strange part is that I sometimes "phase in & out of it" so that I can be screaming at someone, then my rational self will step in and say calmly, "I'm sorry, I know none of this is your fault, but I've been having a really bad day," & then my monster will scream "but you should never EVER EVER do X!! !! !! !!"

I must sound like I'm either faking it (which I'm not) or have a split personality (which I haven't, because unfortunately I remember everything I do throughout the whole episode, much to my subsequent embarrassment!)

Mage wrote: "Well at 28 I don't really have meltdowns anymore, except for maybe when my blood sugar gets too low."


I still experience what I now recognize as a meltdown sometimes. I worry about what a spouse might think of me so I have been trying to get better at not letting it show before I get into a close relationship with anyone. But just because you get better at not letting meltdowns show, doesn't mean you don't still have them.

One of my most recent involves taking too long to find things in Meijer because of the new layout and reallocation of floor space to useless junk. This left me feeling impaired for a couple of hours. My method of control at this point involves keeping the rant short.

I have come to realize that at 28 with a child, if I have meltdowns and someone outside of the family sees, they are going to call CPS and take away my child. I do everything I can to control myself and make sure that doesn't happen. This includes controlling my diet, avoiding known triggers, and removing myself from situations when I sense things are going sour. This is why I don't have meltdowns anymore.

I see it as one of many possible responses to overload, not necessarily a response to overload of emotion, but overload of stuff going on in head. It doesn't have to involve panic at all, although it certainly can.

i have meltdowns when someone clean's my room or throws something of mine out.

for me meltdown are freaking out which is why i get restained