What, for you, are the early signs of a meltdown?

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I am keen to hear other people's experiences of the lead-up to a meltdown, and what the very first signs are.

I JUST want people to write about the lead-up to it, not an account of the meltdown itself...

For me, I can almost feel the negative emotions grow and grow and grow. I then either yell, cry, or I hit stuff or at least hit my fists through the air.

What you mean like the one I had this morning?

Earliest signs are a feeling of tension that can't really be released. A feeling of being silenced, ignored or not listened to--as if someone had bound my mouth in duct tape, barbed wire and riveted a metal plate over it. I don't know if any of that will make sense to anyone else.

I find that my muscles and fingers tingle, my head becomes a blur and I become so agitated that it just has to be released. Like after a teaching practice session! whoops!

I start blocking out my surroundings, dissociating. I have a lot of muscle tension. I lose the ability to think systematically and have very little ability to concentrate; if asked to do a simple math problem would lose my place repeatedly. Emotionally, primarily frustration and a desire to escape are present, though there's usually a touch of anxiety too. I lose the ability to think about what I'm saying and start using scripted conversation, so that I may say things I don't mean to say--not in the usual "I insulted someone impulsively" sense, but just fitting words in without communicating. I don't have the executive function necessary to react to things quickly or make decisions. When I get like that, I usually have to get home ASAP or get someplace private, otherwise I'll go into shutdown or meltdown.

I just start screaming, at this point, very quickly, so, I avoid them at all cost because I have a very hard time pulling myself together or back out of it once it happens. That's the kind I notice most, anyway.

start clenching fists, clenching jaw, erratic hand gestures increase, get confused and brain shuts down. If there is noone around to talk to it usually leads to a meltdown within approx 5 minutes, the longer the delay the bigger the meltdown.

I feel unstable. Light is brighter and brighter and I become automatic and more autistic. Then I find any reason and IT BEGINS.

Melting, melting...Oh, what a world topic

Warning signs:

1. Tension, whole body, I feel wound up.

2. Voice becomes louder, and people tell me my voice is loud, which annoys me.

3. People around me (when I am at home) seem to be talking to me more, almost goading, pushing

4. A feeling of implosion, panic

5. Explosion. I yell, I lash out, and people tell me to chill, and this makes it worse.

I am not so aware of the signs until after the meltdown has passed. There is no aura that I experience. the signs just happen.

Possible causes:

People talking more, asking me things, impatience on their part if i do not respond right away.

Lack of sleep, worry, extraneous audible noise from next door, a feeling of pressure not otherwise specified.

I tend to dissociate and shut down. Being in a crowd causes this to happen. I have a hard time functioning for hours in crowds of people. I tend to tune out and not say much. If people are rude to me, I tend to melt down later. If people just ignore me, I tune back in when I am not around them.