In children, a lot of people mistake them for temper tantrums, but meltdowns are a different animal. Meltdowns are often as much physiological as they are emotional in nature.
After going through my last one, I thought I’d write about it. Both in an effort to bring myself back online, and to help others understand what goes on from the point of view of someone “on the inside.”
While there may be a “final straw” that triggers a meltdown event, that final trigger is usually the tip of a much larger stressor or series of stressors. I once saw it discribed as a reaction to “too much” — too much noise, too much light, too many people. It’s a fitting description, I think.