Meltdown?

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I'm used to dealing with meltdowns from the children I work with. Usually these are crying, self harming, becoming violent etc in response to too much noise or not wanting to do something. I've never experienced anything as extreme myself and I'm unsure what constitutes a meltdown? Usually I react in a very locked down, private way, inside my own head if things get too much.

Today I was walking my dog in the park. I always take some headphones with me so I can pretend not to hear people if they talk to me (which they do a lot because I have a pretty cute puppy!)
My dog was playing with another dog and its owner tried to stroke my dog. He ran away because he doesn't like being touched by strangers, and he ran back to me. This guy followed him and my dog ran under the bench I was sat on. The guy bent down and stroked him, and his head was about 1 ft away from my legs. He asked me how old he was, so I took my headphones off and told him, but forgot the answer.
My dog wasn't happy and the man was making me uncomfortable being that close to me, so I stood up, grabbed by dog and shouted at him to "go away and leave my dog alone." I walked off very quickly feeling this horrible feeling in my stomach and flapping my hands which I do a lot when I'm stressed.

I've spent the rest of the day feeling really down and didn't go out again later to do some shopping like I'd planned.
Looking back he wasn't doing anything wrong, just being friendly, but I panicked. Is this what a meltdown entails?

Yeah, that sounds like a meltdown that you had. It's hard for some people to express themselves, so a better approach would have been to immediately tell him the dog didn't like being petted or something if it really bothered you that much. I get frustrated in public because I feel like it's a lot of stress and I also get over-stimulated easily. But I keep it to myself for the most part, but sometimes that builds up.

I've never worked with kids with Autism, so I am not sure what causes meltdowns but your description makes sense. I imagine it's just frustrating for someone not to be able to express something they want, in the way others want it expressed.

I listen to music but it actually really bothers me, esp electronica. I enjoy it, but it's so intense for me that it's hard to endure loud noises in music and eventually I turn it off.

There's something about music that both stimulates me and annoys me. I have schizoaffective though, and I've learned some people with schizophrenia need stimulation to stay motivated, maybe because of the flat affect symptoms and avolition.

Lots of the time I just use the headphones as a decoy - not actually listening to music but I wear them so people think I am and think that's the reason I've ignored them. I find I'm the same with music as well. Sometimes it's good to distract from other noises, but other times it just adds to them.

Luckily my dog also responds to some signing (my partner's deaf), so I occasionally use that and people assume I'm deaf and don't talk to me!

I've only seen that guy a couple of times in the park before, so I'm hoping he's not there too often and isn't "well connected" in the cliques of dog walkers (they all know each other) and spreads the word that the guy who owns the sausage dog is a nutcase..

nah doesn't sound like a melt down to me....just a reaction...phobic reaction it would seem. The reason i say that it doesn't sound like one is because in my experience and from what i've read you can reall feel a meltdown almost like you are getting really angry your head explodes and there is a pressure inside the head like you have a really tight rubber band or head band around your head then you might say something like you said. But if a dog runs under a bench to get away from someone who is trying to pet them it is a general sign that he/she doesn't want to be petted...=/ so a little wierd for that guy not just you. When i am at the dog park i reach my hand out and try to let them snif me and if they dont run away i can pet them if they run away and i chase after them.....and pet them....that's just asking to get bit not that your dog is mean but a lot of dogs would have that reaction. I have not had a meltdown in about a month...and the feeling though very apparent at the time escapes me the longer i go without one...=/

What do you mean by phobic reaction?