Question
You refer to "meltdowns" quite frequently in your articles. What is a "meltdown" exactly?
Answer
A meltdown - or severe temper tantrum - is an emotional outburst of ill humor or a fit of bad temper wherein the higher brain functions are unable to stop the emotional expression of the lower (emotional and physical) brain functions. It can be categorized by an irrational fit of crying, screaming, defiance, angry ranting and a resistance to every attempt at pacification in which even physical control is lost. The child may not stand or sit on their own. Even when the "goal" of the child is met, he or she is not calmed.
Children who have neurological disorders are more prone to meltdowns than others, although anyone experiencing forebrain damage -- temporary or permanent -- can suffer from meltdowns. Every child has meltdowns once in a while. The most common ways to temporarily damage the forebrain are to poison it with a mood depressant or inhibit its functioning with lack of sleep or brain fatigue. Other drugs can also cause the higher brain functions not to control the lower functions of the brain due to increased agitation. Because a meltdown is most often associated with small children, it is often also colloquially known in Australia as a dummy spit, a reference to an unhappy baby spitting out a dummy, or pacifier. In infants, it is important to differentiate between developmental etiologies of meltdowns as fostered by environment versus temperamental etiologies of meltdowns as determined by innate organic idiosyncrasies.
From a psychological standpoint, there may be several goals to a meltdown, which may or may not be the "reward(s)" that are consciously desired by the child. To many outsiders, these goals may seem irrational, unreasonable, inappropriate, criminal, unethical, immoral, or the work of some spiritual force(s). To children familiar with or trained to recognize the psychological causes of such behavior, however, there are clear emotional, cognitive behavioral and biochemical correlates to meltdowns.
Since there are chemical correlates to meltdowns, some kinds of medication can minimize but not always prevent meltdowns. This is especially true for those children with traumatic brain injury, which commonly affects the forebrain.
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2 comments:
Meltdowns are not always "temper tantrums." I am a certified Aspie and my meltdowns usually have nothing to do with temper to anger.
Meltdowns are the result of overstimulation in some area. It could be related to sensory issues such as a certain noise, or certain colored lights, or it could be a reaction to an emotionally charged situation (we don't understand emotions so when emotions are high it is unnerving and we can't handle it).
I recently wrote about a meltdown on my own blog The Christian Aspie. It is a first hand account, through the eyes of an Aspie.
It is horrible to experience. There is a lot of anxiety and stress, an out of control feeling. I have had milder meltdowns when people lie to me. I have also had rather serious meltdowns when I have just been overloaded in one way or another (usually sensory related).
The thing to remember is that 1. We can't help it. Sometimes I have to stomp or flap my hands to release the pressure. 2. There is nothing you can do about it except to try to get the person into a sensory friendly (low sensory input - low lights, muted sound, isolated, etc) area.
I think a lot of it is semantics. The closest term to describe a 'Meltdown', is a severe temper tantrum, altho a temper tantrum in a 'normal' child is generally caused by a child that is simply not getting his way and has learned that if he pitches a big enough fit, he will get his way. No Aspie or Aspie parent wants that perception to be used to describe an Aspie meltdown. I think there is also a big difference between a 'meltdown' and a 'shutdown', depending on how the aspie deals with the anxiety and often overwhelming experience of trying to navigate the 'normal' world. Some aspies INternalalize their feelings and emotions, and some EXternalize them. An internal 'meltdown' I would describe more as a 'shutdown'. They may be just as devastating to the child, but don't have the same outward effect on those around them, as a full-blown 'meltdown' can have. Especially if it happens in public.
In my opinion, the term 'meltdown' has become way overused by some parents to describe anytime their child, aspie or not, cries or doesn't behave perfectly. I often want to tell these parents, "you apparently have never seen a real meltdown". In our experience, Mark Hutton described a meltdown perfectly, and I think the overuse, and misuse of the term minimizes what Aspies and their caregivers deal with daily. Thank you Mark for clarifying this.
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