About Meltdowns: IS it possible to have one while still carrying on with using Texting/Internetting?

Greetings anyone. Anyone who knows Me on here, may recall that I often say that although I am here, I know little about Social Media and The Internet. This Thread asks a simple question, and I hope for a simple(-ish) answer...

Please do not Quote or reference anything/anyone outside of this Thread, or else it might wind up being deleted!

I Myself sometimes "Shutdown" (I quit interaction when I can neither Reason nor 'Run away'.). But I have never to My memory had a "Meltdown", so I know less about that... I have read other Threads about it on here. ...But as I say, I have never connected the two together - Meltdown + While Using The Internet...??

I keep this OP short in hope again that it does not go off topic, much if at all. As usual, I offer apology in advance for any misunderstandings, and I try to present reasonable explanation for anything if possible... but I cannot do that if I know nothing about the subject, which is why I am asking this here.   Try to Stay Well, anyone reading.

  • ...Me again. I was going to let this Thread go (so to speak), but then You put some off-topic things here. More Thanks... I was indeed also wondering about Your UserName, but now it is easier for Me to remember, and, I prefer, to remember how You helped Me just here.

    KITSUNE (キツネ) The Japanese Word for "Fox" ! Arigatou Gozaimasu, Kore, Kitusne-San! ("Thank You Very Much, here, Kitsune! ) (I am trying to learn Japanese, but it is not easy just for Me & just Now.) This Thread was not about Meltdowns in general, but Meltdowns + Typing-on-the-Internet both. And so I Thank You for the Education...!

  • It’s the fantastic Mrs Fox actually :-) I’ve actually changed my avatar today, largely because I’d been planning to change it anyway but also partly because yes, I can see how it is difficult on here to even know the gender of the person that you are communicating with.

    Yes I find that my own experience and also probability are my most useful tools for determining other people’s mood or intentions. It has limited scope though.

    You’re welcome. I’m glad that I was able to help with your understanding.

  • ...I forgot to say... I go by deeds more than words, as the saying goes. That is, what a person does rather than what they say they will do. Also I pay attention to contradictions a lot. But if there is no starting point, or the starting point is false, then I try to leave off. I really mean that. And I also really mean... Thank You, again!

  • Greetings Miss Kitsun... I feel I owe an reply to this, though this Thread has helped enough (for Me) towards understanding a thing that I could not know.

    Do you find it less easy to see/judge how people are feeling on the internet as opposed to face to face?

    ...Yes.

    I could write a lot more, but for Myself, one simple fact was explained right there: I did not know if You were Male or Female, for a start. (!) & YES I know that in many ways this should not matter... but this is just ME. I could cite false Posts, Chatbots, Grooming... that sort of thing... but I do not want to discuss that here. Including Hacking, Trojans, Falsifications... I only say such things because I know a bit about how they work (technically)... as I say, this is ME, and these things occur constantly when I use the Internet.

    You are correct in all that You say, there. I take people at "face value", but then I consult My own Experience. I cannot do much else (Experience means My own and what I observe happening to others in a pertinant situation. I cannot really say more than that.) As You see, if reasonable opposition is presented, then I can reasonably present support or arguments.

    Thank You again, but I am now uncertain of the direction of conversation now and so I close this Post. I always try to be neutral, but cannot do so without all of the facts, basically. ...Also, in case You or anyone missed My often Posting this... I am not good at "chit chat" and become VERY nervous at it. So, Thanks again anyway, though, certainly...!  

  • No not a closet autistic, I do have an abi which has caused areas of changed signal patterns in my brain, I think this is what triggers the extreme fight/flight response. Although I will admit I look ridiculous when it happens, I try and pick things up and I drop or spill them. Simply put I got hit in the head to much! Oh well never mind 

  • Verbal meltdown - the most common type of meltdown that goes unrecognised. Anything at all where you loose control is a meltdown. 

    Meltdowns don’t usually look like meltdowns. The typical idea of a meltdown is a NT idea - Raging uncontrollably. That’s an NT meltdown. Yes - they can meltdown too but they can’t mask it

  • A closet autistic are you!! Shaking hands etc... Yes

  • Do you find it less easy to see/judge how people are feeling on the internet as opposed to face to face? Personally I’m quite rubbish at judging what people are feeling face-to-face unless they are giving very obvious cues such as laughing/crying/shouting then I would assume that they are happy/sad/angry or unless they actually tell me how they are feeling. So for me, in some ways talking to people on the internet is easier because usually people are more inclined to state how they are feeling, as otherwise how would anyone know? I’m female btw. 

  • What you’ve said are your triggers would apply to me too, but usually in the home environment rather than work. Massive triggers for me include: People not listening; people giving completely irrational reasons for their decisions and actions despite the rational way having been pointed out clearly and concisely by myself; people behaving in irrational ways just to be antagonistic (in my opinion); people trying to impose their view or will onto me when I don’t agree and don’t want to do whatever it is because I don’t agree with it; people giving me too much information at once and taking ages to do so.

  • Oh yes I can, the meltdowns for me are perhaps more letting off steam due to the perception of:-

    To close and imposing by those in power.

    Not felt listened to - my needs and nothing more

    TOO MUCH INFORMATION

    condescension and dictatorship rather than combined collaboration in a supportive way

    I know what I am good at, so do others in the Business, as well as where I need help FROM DAMAGEMENT.  FFS listen to me, read the signs, spot the body language and STOP/LOOK/LISTEN otherwise the Hulk comes out to play.

    I can then go back into my world of work to de-stress

  • This is what happens to me - I mask very well so I'm programmed not to show weakness so there's no external signs of meltdown - but there is so much turmoil happening inside mt head that I withdraw into myself.  

    If I'm at home, I have the tv on silent so I can watch it, I have youtube on the computer so I've got things to listen to and I surf the net all at the same time to try to drown out the self-destructive thoughts.   Trying to overload the senses.   I tend to jiggle like all of the muscles want to fight or flight but cannot decide a direction.   I also tend to scratch myself (old excema programme) until I bleed.   I find it impossible to communicate during all this.  Too much brain noise to think clearly.

  • I am not autistic. But when I get severely angry or upset I couldn't work a smartphone, or computer mostly because my body kicks it's fight or flight response in and I get so terrified my hands are physically shaking to much to type! I literally can't even force myself to stop them.

    When my daughter has a meltdown it is hysterical crying and screaming alongside kicking and flailing there is no coherent speech from her these are normally followed by a short period of shutdown. But she is only 8 

  • I don't know, from what I've read of other people's experiences meltdowns seem to be as varied as the people that have them. For that reason alone I'd guess its possible. My experience is almost entirely inward focused if they are proper meltdowns, I get extremely anxious and feel like I'm shrinking inside my head as if there is some kind of void between me and the world. If I can't get away from whatever situation caused it I start to feel every source of input overwhelming and suffer from very aggressive unwanted thoughts about how useless etc I am and how I should end it all. On the outside though there is not much sign of anything other than me getting quieter and distant unless the tears burst through. I probably could still use the Internet but it wouldn't occur to me to do so as I'll likely be trying to cut myself off for the world

  • My experience is that I can have a meltdown because of what is said on the forum, but I can also think about what I am saying here at the same time.

    If things get very bad, I just don't post at all for a few hours.  However things can still wind me up, and when they do the memory of it is still firmly implanted so I tend to get wound up when something triggers the experience long, long after ... even years.

  • ...Thank You again. This was what I was really wondering. I have no concept of this because I avoided both things (Meltdowns and Internet) at the same time. 

    ...I say this at everyone whom I reply to in quick succession... I am not good at chit-chat, and become nervous. But You helped Me first here, and I should do well not to forget that. Meantime, I might sign off or come back later to see how this Thread develops, if it does. I am prone to Upvoting, and so I did that. 

    My problem with the Internet is that I cannot see/judge how people are feeling, and so I still do not much like it... even as I am here now. I have begun many Threads before about that, and so am not discussing that here. Thank You So Much for answering the Main Question & Good Fortune to You, Mr/Miss "Kitsun"!

    :-) 

  • As I already said at the bottom of my previous answer. I could through most of what I described above maintain the ability to type or use a smartphone to text. I don’t know how or why. I guess maybe texting/typing is less personal and less stimulating than talking to an actual person and uses a different part of the brain. 

  • THANK YOU for this answer. It is... well, awful to read, but I read it and understand. As I say, I have never had one (a Meltdown), and the more I read and see about them, I do not want one... this sounds silly, but, as You also say that the stressors are recognised, then that is what I do.

     It is like having allergies and knowing the Allergen, or something...

    Might You have any insights into the Main Question, however, which is as if having a Meltdown yet at the same time still being able to manage, um, "fine motor coordination" (i.e. typing and using a smartphone)...? This is again a daft seeming question, but I do not have one of those either (a Smartphone) and so do not know how I would use it if extremely stressed. (Apart from putting it away.)  :-/

  • I personally can manage to have a meltdown while also having a conversation, though the ‘conversation’ is usually of a somewhat hysterical nature and probably the cause of said meltdown. I think everyone’s meltdown’s are different in terms of severity but generally follow the sameish pattern. What I have now come to recognise as me having a meltdown is when I get totally overwhelmed, either by extreme anxiety (though I’ve now learned to pre-empt these ones which helps with making changes to avoid having the actual meltdown) or when situations spin suddenly and unexpectedly out of control. I always end up sobbing uncontrollably, if it’s the second cause and another person has caused it by their actions then I also usually end up screaming hysterically at them with quite a lot of swear words involved. When I’ve had really back ones I’ve ended up clawing my own face and leaving scratch marks, in my late teens and early 20’s I’d have superficially self harmed too whilst in this state. Even now while I’m in the meltdown state I have quite alien thoughts of wanting to go and jump off the railway bridge, just to get rid of the horrible feeling, anything to get away from that feeling! I need to walk for a long time to get rid of that horrible restless energy and I have to be on my own for at least a couple of hours with no stimulation in order to calm myself down. If anyone interferes and starts saying stupid things then it just prolongs everything. Once it’s passed I have to find an activity to engage in to distract myself, doing something online or whatever, just something to switch my attention, also on my own with no distraction. I would be able to text or type if I had to though during most of that. Hope this answer helps.