Meltdowns and Shutdowns

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So I was diagnosed with Asperger's last week (which really wasn't that much of a surprise to me when it finally came down), but one aspect of it that I can't say that I've ever experienced (at least as far as I know) is a meltdown or a shutdown.

The closest that I can think of would be when Office politics became way too much for me over a fairly long period of time, and I remember going into a mode where I didn't really care about anything for about 5-10 minutes, kind of a "do whatever you want to me, I don't care" type of thing. It actually felt kind of like a relief at the time, even if it was kind of scary too. But even then, I would still say that I was still fully conscious and all my senses were basically still working, and from what I've read about shutdowns, it is kind of like losing consciousness.

Do all Aspies have meltdowns and shutdowns? Is what I described basically a mild shutdown, or just a normal stress overload?

I can only speak for myself, and I'm no expert on Aspergers, but I've had shutdowns and meltdowns before so I can try to describe them to you. My shutdowns aren't a loss of consciousness, but the comparison has some merit. Although shutdowns are an impairment of senses, my senses don't turn off, they're just severely dampened. I'm also fully conscious during these times, though my ability to outwardly function dissipates. Actually, I once came close to fainting, and the pre-faint feeling is almost exactly like a shutdown. So, in a sense, it is like losing consciousness, but it feels like the process of losing it, without ever slipping under. Does that make sense?

Honestly, I'm not sure that I could tell you whether what you experienced was a shutdown or not. I hope my own experiences might help you figure it out, though. I'd also recommend searching through the forum archives for old threads about shutdowns. That's how I figured out that what I'd been experiencing.

In answer to your other question, I don't think shutdowns and meltdowns are entirely necessary for a diagnosis of Asperger's. Although I had many (many) meltdowns when I was a little kid, I didn't experience a shutdown until I was fifteen. I've seen others who said that they never had either until they were into middle age. If every other aspect of Asperger's fits you, I wouldn't worry about it. Few people have EVERY symptom. For example, I do fairly well in social situations, as long as they don't involve people near my age.

From what I've come across in my (very) limited (and patchy) research, shutdowns and meltdowns aren't entirely ubiquitous, but not uncommon.

I was diagnosed recently as an adult, but looking back over my life I've experienced many shutdowns and a handful of meltdowns.

I can definitely relate to what you describe, I find it's strangely comfortable, and I can still see / hear, but don't percieve as well as normal. When it happens it's kind of dissociative I feel like I'm a step behind myself.

For me it's brought on by sensory overload, or by extended situations where I have to be sociable (weddings and funerals are bad ones for this). I'll get a vague feeling that I'm getting tired, a slight pressure/warmth in the head, as I withdraw into myself I have generally buzzing feeling, my ears tend to ring, speech gets non-intelligible and my vision can go a bit grey/blue, at this point I find it hard to do/care/think about anything - I'll tend to seek out a bed/dark&quiet place asap when I'm like this - I can snap out of it, but I really have to force myself to, but if whatever I was engaged in was causing that continuing will probably lead to headaches/exhaustion.

I did have a couple of meltdowns when I was way younger, I've a particularly embarrasing memory of secondary school (even more embarrasing considering neither I, nor my classmates knew I was aspie then), I had a total meltdown in class one day over someone damaging something that I had borrowed from a friend. I don't think this was the sole trigger, but it was the tipping point that lead me into a fear/anger panic, and then into meltdown. I didn't tend to get violent/lash out, but I either get totally enraged and emotional, or totally upset and emotional. I couldn't listen to reason and couldn't calm down I don't really think I can snap out of this once it happens from what I remember.