You can control your "meltdowns"

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I've noticed that many people on WP talk about their "meltdowns" as events that happen to them, like a seizure or a stroke, and not something they can control. I had a stroke. I had a seizure. I had a meltdown.

Give me a break. What you really did was throw a tantrum. How pathetic.

If you are AS, and you can control your meltdowns, it would be useful to share with us how you do it instead of criticizing us.

I spent most of my life trying - trying harder than I've seen anyone else try anything - to do so. If there were an award for trying, I would have won it a long time ago.

And if you're not AS, then why bother criticizing that which you don't understand?

Actually, an autistic meltdown is neurological in origin, look up "autistic catatonia"; like a migraine, one cannot control the effects of it, only remove themselves from the causative agent.

im sorry that you've never experienced your limits

I control my anger by not yelling at people. I take myself out of the situation, withdrawing physically or mentally, take a braoder perspective (this too shall pass, by tomorrow morning it will seem trivial etc) and wait until I get home to freak out and hit the punching bag or lift extremely heavy weights in my basement while screaming at the wall. I never do this when there is anyone to see or hear me.

If a "meltdown" were purely anger, as you suggest, then everyone who experiences anger would be AS, wouldn't they?

And yes, removing yourself from the situation is probably best - but the ability to do so tends to come with practise, patience, maturity, understanding and love. If we had been able to do that all along, we would have saved ourselves a lot of pain.

I have a job, so I'll have to wait until after 5:00 to continue with this.

I used to have some meltdowns at work before I diagnosed myself but haven't since. This might be because I now realise what is causing the MD and can remove myself from the situation.

Exactly. Thank you Dosh for explaining what I was struggling to.

You can - I often can't.

That does not make me "pathetic" - it means that I have a lesser degree of emotional control than you. Conversely, you probably have some AS symptoms that I don't.

We are all different and have different issues.

Just because you can't identify with something is no reason to be rude!

if the meltdown is controllable,it is a [[[[tantrum]]]]],not a [[[[meltdown]]]].
a tantrum is a behavior which can be manipulated to any situation,a meltdown is uncontrollable,exactly like a seizure in that sense,and infact can mimic seizures perfectly in some people,and have an abnormal brain activity or seizure component to.

the term meltdown tends to get overused to include what is considered normal outburst/reaction,but a genuine meltdown is an agony to go through,certainly not prepared or manipulated in any way.
have also had seizures to and would rather have a seizure than the meltdowns am have.

I've been confused by this whole term. Not sure if I've ever had something that would fit in this category or not. There are (occasional) times when I get really freaked out, start pacing, breathing fast, probably don't react logically at all, etc., and those times are kind of on a continuum.

I usually just leave the situation if I feel like that-looks weird, but better than getting more freaked out. Worst case recently was a few months back when the office desks were moved around, and I would have been stuck right near other people, with no "walls" around me.

Maybe it's a "panic attack"? I don't know what you'd call it. Thankfully it's rare unless my circumstances are being drastically interrupted.

I try to control my meltdowns but they are hard. I can't control everything around me and I do get embarassed when I end up having one in public. I am crying mostly. I don't scream at people or curse at them. I stim constinatly and rock and can't calm down. I feel like I want to get out of there but can't. If I am with my parents and I want to leave the place, how can I prevent having one? The only way to prevent it is if I leave. I hate being at places too long when I am bored so it leads to one. That's why I prefer to be by myself mostly and my family always had two cars when we go to places just so I could leave while they would get to enjoy their time without having to leave too because of me.


Meltdowns don't always involve temper tantrums. Those are the severe ones like I have. Mild ones involve shut down, no crying or screaming. There are different kinds of meltdowns.


I do try to hold in my anxiety too when I am anxious and I want to leave but can't because I have to wait in line and want to get home but can't because I am stuck in traffic or the bus is late.

And aspies don't have the meltdowns I have. Mine are more autistic.

BS,

My apologies you the ladies, but that IS an appropriate way of shortening your handle! My "meltdowns" are anything BUT tantrums! They are at least a subset of what people here experience. They are NOT truly controllable!

Well, what if the other people follow you around and continue tormenting you? You can't always just leave, you know...

What exactly are you trying to pull here by having a go at people describing their meltdowns? Sometimes in life you can't keep on top of this syndrome... sometimes we will inevitably fold... inevitably feel so damn low that we feel no sense of hope to get out of it...
Ok other times we may feel that we're brilliant and we get out of similar situations much easier.

This syndrome is impossible to understand in its entirety... the things it can do to you... for good or for bad.