I need to learn to just walk away. But it’s hard in the moment…

Glitter said:

then logically try to work out if there's anything worrying me like a meeting at work or whatever.

This, I have to do this often with anxiety. It can come from nowhere for seeimngly innocuous reasons. It might just be a small thing like a demand (going to the shops) or an upcoming social event (which is really sitting having a cup of tea with people I know well) or an interruption. Or, not getting reinforcement during an interaction that actually everthing is ok. Once I can get to the nub of the anxiety, and it makes sense, this usually helps but it is often a step by step process.

The bullet points you listed were similar to my shopping experience the other day coupled with the fact that I was also very hungry but my attention had been on buying present so forgot to eat. I've realised hunger can compound factors. I was alone but it's interesting that my partner knows before I do when I am hungry because i can get really snappy (hangry!) but sometimes don't realise. I now know I need to have eaten adequately before I go shopping next time!

Honestly, this whole interaction could be me and my wife! It’s so reassuring to read. I hope you don’t mind me saying that. It’s just nice to read words I could have written myself (if I could have found the words in the first place). I can entirely relate to this instance, including the list of contributing factors that illustrate the levels of direct processing we have to go through in seeming straight forward scenarios. Genuinely, thank you for this.

Glitter said:

it surprises me because I hadn't worked out how I'm feeling yet

I think it’s this surprise that puts me into the adrenaline driven state of fight or flight. But perhaps all it needs to be is surprise, followed by a pause and then, when ready, listening. Great advice and something that I will try to take forwards with me.

It's funny you both should mention this because only the other day I saw a kid in the supermarket having a tantrum(?) and I say "tantrum(?)" because for some reason it only just occured to me to consider if those kids are just young and overwhelmed because that's standard stuff for small kids, or if they will potentially be diagnosed with ASC at some point in their life as they get older. But it didn't click as a possibility until I had a bizarre little flash back to being very young and just breaking down into unconsolable tears because it was late in the day, I was tired, the fluorescent lights hurt my eyes, and I had to walk on very short legs so x4 the distance all around the shop because my baby brother had the trolly seat.
And it's a coincidence because now I think about it, I'm the exact same just older, my general cope levels are higher but that "energy bar" rapidly saps away under the right (or rather very wrong, bad circumstances) and the reasons underlying the meltdowns actually have hardly changed at all.

Next time I see a tantruming toddler I'm just gonna lean over and say "I know buddy I hate it here too." XD

I figured as much to be honest. It’s not a hugely autistic friendly environment. Perhaps I’m generalising there though. It’s certainly not the sort of environment I thrive in, that’s for sure.

Roy said:

I struggle to convey what I actually mean.

This is a huge source of frustration for me. But it must be a two way street so to speak. It probably works both ways round sometimes. Although we argue at times, my wife is hands down the person who most tries to ‘get it’. This I have to recognise and appreciate.

Oakling said:

Well, this is exactly how it started today. How interesting. I was getting increasingly angry, due to the constant comments about how angry I was. To me, I wasn’t. But perhaps, therefore, this part is true for me also.

Exactly this!  She'd said it several times that made me get cross.  Then one time, I stopped.  I remember it vividly.  We were in McDonald's, and I was struggling to decide what to eat because food ugh.  And she was making suggestions which didn't help because it was all on the screen in front of me, and I got snappy about it.  And she pointed out that i was snappy.  And I just took a moment and thought- 

• There is music playing but I can't quite make it out
• There are voices talking and it's very busy noise wise
• My wife's suggestions are extra things I have to process 
• The lighting feels weird
• It is getting increasingly hard to make a decision and I did just get snappy
• If I was thinking about any other autistic person in this situation, and seeing them act like this, I would say of course they are stressed 
• Perhaps it is possible that my body is producing stress reactions in response to these stimuli without me "feeling" it emotionally, because alexithymia

I think I then just took a breath and chose any old thing.  

Sometimes my wife will speak to me in the morning and say "you seem a bit down today" and it surprises me because I hadn't worked out how I'm feeling yet, but now I listen and ask why she thinks that, and then logically try to work out if there's anything worrying me like a meeting at work or whatever.

Unknown said:

Good old alexythmia

It seems to rear its head at the most inconvenient moments. But then again, I suppose that’s what makes it an issue in the first place!

Unknown said:

Sounds like your wife knows you better than you do sometimes.

This is probably truer than I realise sometimes to be honest.

And as you say, it is happening a lot less now, so perhaps I shouldn’t dwell too much on this instance. It went wrong, we handled it and have forgiven each other, time to move on. I hope I can do this.

Oakling said:

Maybe I was displaying some emotions that hadn’t registered to me yet.

Good old alexythmia. Sounds like your wife knows you better than you do sometimes. My partner is the same. It's interesting because often I don't notice when the bucket is getting full until it's overflowed. But this year doing christmas shopping, (on an awful day when my clothes were itching and I hadn't dressed approrpriately for the weather or eaten enough, amongst everything else going on) I am now more aware of what possibly adds to the bucket and when it's happening. It's stil hard and it takes practise and I still had a mini-episode but it's not the end of the world.

Also you can't mitigate these situations all the time but it sounds like they are starting to happen less frequenly. Easier said than done but cut yourself some slack when they do happen because sometimes it just cannot be helped. You said you had taken yourself off to the loos but shouldve done this sooner. The fact that you noticed it happening and did something about it to me shows some progress. We can't always get everything right but we try our best.

It’s a situation that quite a few of us find ourselves in around this time of year. I was in Tescos a couple of weeks ago and started to go into one. My wife saw the first signs of it and asked if I wanted to go and sit in the car. You noticed that things were taking a nosedive and took yourself out of the equation. I find that when I argue with my wife, it is normally down to me as I struggle to convey what I actually mean. The main thing is that you are recognising what ‘ pushes your buttons’

Anecdotes are good in my eyes- anyone who can relate to the things I describe on here just helps to make me feel less alone. So thanks for taking the time to reply.

I definitely think you are right though, working on reflection after each of these moments has made this sort of thing less frequent. Even in the couple of years I have experienced post diagnosis. Early days relatively speaking I suppose.

At the moment, I’m finding it tricky to figure out the warning signs though, due to the fact that after the adrenaline has worn off, I struggle to accurately remember what happened in the build up or during. I’ll get there in time I suppose.

Glitter said:

she kept insisting I was stressed when I didn't feel it

Well, this is exactly how it started today. How interesting. I was getting increasingly angry, due to the constant comments about how angry I was. To me, I wasn’t. But perhaps, therefore, this part is true for me also.

Glitter said:

my wife spots my signs of stress before I do

There really might be something to this that I hadn’t considered before. Maybe I was displaying some emotions that hadn’t registered to me yet. I struggle to pick up on/ interpret my feeling in the same way that I struggle to read those of others.

Like you, perhaps I’d be better to listen and ask why she thinks that, rather than finding it accusatory and frustrating.

Thank you for this interesting perspective. Definitely something worth thinking about. I genuinely am interested in handling things better, so perhaps this is one to carefully consider. This has felt like a bit of a potential lightbulb moment for me too.

I've been in a similar situation more than once! 

One thing that has helped me is learning that my wife spots my signs of stress before I do.  I would get even more upset because she kept insisting I was stressed when I didn't feel it, but then one day, I looked at the situation logically, noted potential triggers, and realised that she was right.  Lightbulb!!

So now we've talked about this and I listen more when she says there's something wrong. 

Aw I'm sorry you had a tough time of it. I understand that feeling (had quite a few similar incidences with my other half too) it's difficult though as sometimes I think we are so busy trying to just cope and squash it down that we don't realise the pressure had got to crisis point and then it feels like it breaks through unexpectedly. A friend of mine once said that we can build the awareness over time, and I think I have been getting better at it. It's about recognising the warning signs and making our exist to safety before they explode on us. But they are right it does take practice and a lot of self reflection and monitoring.
It also takes quite a bit of courage I think to stop trying to be stoic and squash it down and admit to ourselves and our loved ones when actually we are getting overwhelmed and need to break away from the situation.
I realise that's more of an observational anecdote than advice, but I hope it helps.