hey guys in this video i'm talking about the difference between an autism meltdown and a panic attack don't go anywhere coming right up [Music] hey guys welcome back to the aspie world my name is dan i have autism adhd ocd and dyslexia and i make weekly videos on this type of content so if you're new around here you stumbled across this video and you want to learn more about that subject make sure to hit that subscribe button by clicking that notification bell down below and if you're watching from facebook make sure to give this page a like and follow see more videos just like this one boom okay so i have been putting videos online for a while and people ask me the same question they always want to know what's the difference between an autism meltdown and a panic attack is there a difference you know what the ins and outs how does it differ and so i wanted to do this video to talk about the differences that i can personally talk about that is a different the main difference between the two and with that i thought it'd be cool to make a video so yeah let's get into it so before we actually hit the video content i just want to ask if you aren't already please come check me out on instagram twitter facebook and tick tock give me a follow on those platforms i actually upload content on all those too and i also read my dm so if you want to reach out to me so it's better to do it on twitter and instagram okay so let's let's talk about autism meltdowns for for the first part of it so autism meltdowns consist of a an overload that is present in the person on the autism spectrum and the overload then causes an emotional kind of like outburst and a complete lack of control for their emotions and everything that's going on around them so this could be down to sensory input or sensory overload because autism comes with something called sensory processing disorder and sensory processing disorder or spd actually impacts the way that the brain intakes sensory input from external stimuli so for instance if you uh you know susceptible to smells maybe you're autistic and you don't like certain smells of like perfumes or whatever if you walk into like a perfume store then the overload of perfume may actually send you and caused you triggered to have a meltdown now a meltdown happens when the communication is is lost between how much data someone can process from outside and how much they can actually focus on the task at hand now people with autism have a real difficulty taking in too much overload data so there's noises and smells or maybe it's hot and maybe someone's really close to you and but all the while your brain is trying to focus on just trying to do the task at hand which is going to the store and doing something like shopping for groceries or like going to get a new t-shirt or a pair of trousers or something now the task at hand takes your initial focus but the external stimuli which is out of your control takes over and kind of it's like something nagging it's like somebody's sitting in your shoulder i'm like ah and it's like oh this thing and then it like causes me to really just flip you know my my my trigger is like set and then that's it bang it's like no and i'm like just like losing you know i emotionally lose it i can't physically stand being in that moment because it's all just too much and that in essence is how an autism meltdown occurs um meltdowns can happen for a few things could be a change in routine like i said before sensory issues it could be a um an unforeseen circumstance that comes in so maybe not a changing routine but something that's added onto the routine so it's like you know maybe you go somewhere and you sit down to have a sandwich but the sandwich place doesn't have the bread or the sandwich that you want no it's a huge huge like curveball and that could cause a meltdown which actually did happen to me a few times and i've mentioned this story a couple of times it's really annoying but that actually did happen to me so you can see clearly how an autism meltdown kind of constructs itself and also an autism meltdown can last um maybe i don't know half an hour 20 minutes maximum and that meltdown then can you know there'll be lots of crying and like hitting yourself in the head and really feeling like a loss of despair and that this emotional kind of like exhaustion leaves a person feeling exhausted so they may take an entire day to overcome that and i did a video all about autism meltdowns which i will leave in a card above here and in the uh the pinned comment at the bottom of this video and on the end screen so you can check out autumn meltdowns in more detail in that video but in terms of this video i'm talking about it in its very basic form so i can show you the difference between that and a panic attack now also the meltdown it will take someone a while to recover from it and then they need that time to really kind of have a uh a sense of overcoming the emotional exhaustion and to just to re-energize themselves and you know reach out to those batteries so i'm autism outbound in integrity can last like two days which is not good and if you know what i'm talking about about the whole you know recharging your batteries and stuff give this video a thumbs up i'd love to know how uh you know how i relate to you guys would be super super awesome okay so let's shift our attention to panic attacks now a panic attack is an emotional response to a feeling of over anxiousness and nervousness now anxiety does come with autism and it could be a causing factor for a meltdown but the difference between a meltdown and a panic attack in this specific instance is that a panic attack comes from a lack of overload of anxiety so you're anxious and nervous about situation and then you just start to worry too much about the situation and then it all becomes a bit too much and then you start breathing irregularly and then you feel like super super stressed out and you start panicking about i don't know where the next safest exit is gonna be i don't know what i'm gonna do you know safely in this you know the environment that i'm in and the situation that presents itself and the panic attack is your brain over analyzing a situation mixed with anxiety then adrenaline comes in and rushes through your body and then it makes you like hyperventilate makes you kind of really you know be agitated not really know what's going on and you kind of just have an all out like look i just can't do it and you need the time to calm down now a panic attack can last um you know from two minutes to five minutes to ten minutes but it's over very very uh quickly in comparison to a meltdown now a panic attack um you can have the panic attack and it kind of spikes your adrenaline and then it kind of flats and that flat that kind of come down can make you feel a little bit sick and dehydrated but after you know calming down for maybe you know 20 minutes half an hour 35 minutes you can then come around a bit from having a panic attack and then reassess the day reassess the situation and go forth and try and learn from a panic attack and also a panic attack is a response from a mental health condition like anxiety when autism meltdowns occur from neurological conditions due to communication pathways in the brain which don't sync up as they do in a neurotypical person so that is kind of the the definition so you can see now if you can quite clearly identify in order to melt down to a panic attack a panic attack again a heavy breathing um you know over anxiousness and stress but like a meltdown is an outburst of emotions that someone loses control they can't think straight that that that overwhelming kind of meltdown takes over their entire being at that moment in time and it you know it just just digests them and that's that's the whole whole premise of a meltdown but again with panic attacks they can be over overcome and also certain medication can help with panic attacks especially if you're you know taking medication for anxiety uh this would help reduce the risk of a panic attack where anxiety medication really wouldn't do the trick with autism meltdowns because it's the way the brain has fused on its kind of like um creation and those neurological paths are slightly different to that of a neurotypical person and when i say the word neurotypical i mean somebody who is not on the autism spectrum that being said i'd love to know your take on the difference between an awesome down on panic attack is i actually have both of those i've had panic attacks and i have panic attacks and i've had meltdowns and i do have waters and meltdowns still so if you would like to add anything to it pop it in a comment down below i read and respond to every single comment and i'd love to have that discussion and conversation with you if you think this video can help somebody else please share on facebook and twitter and instagram and anywhere you think is fit and if you're new around here and you'd like to see more videos please hit that subscribe button and i'll see you next time guys peace [Music] you