To want to scream in the face of those who say "he/she had a MELTDOWN"

[Skeeter3]

Just no, ok!?

The frequent current misconception that even a big tantrum is in any way comparable to an actual meltdown REALLY boils my piss!!!!!

Yes tantrums can be unpleasant and distressing for all parties BUT they're still not meltdowns.

It demeans those that are dealing with medically defined meltdowns.

The more the word is used to describe a normal childhood tantrum, the less people understand or are tolerant when a child does suffer a meltdown.

If you're guilty of this JUST STOP DOING IT!!!!!!!!!!!

It's just a word. You can't own a word.

The word meltdown does not have a medical definition. Doctors may use the word meltdown to define a certain display of behaviour, but that does not mean the word meltdown only has that definition.

YABU, I think.

Is meltdown a medical term? Thought it was slang for tantrum.

It's not a word that is medically used and has been wrongly used by people. If anything it's normal word that people have started using to mean medically, iykwim.

YABU.

People talk about being depressed when they mean cheesed off or a bit sad.

People talk about being apoplectic when they mean really angry.

It's just using hyperbole to make a point and I think that's how it is usually understood, so it is fairly harmless.

I have never heard the term meltdown used by medical professionals, I thought it was just used as another description for tantrum. I am fully prepared to accept I may be wrong though?

Does that mean we can't use it for nuclear reactors either?

This is from the Oxford dictionary.

Definition of meltdown in English:
noun

1A disastrous collapse or breakdown:
the global financial system suffered a major meltdown
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES
1.1 informal An uncontrolled emotional outburst or a mental collapse:
the story will revolve around her meltdown following the accident
MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES
2An accident in a nuclear reactor in which the fuel overheats and melts the reactor core or shielding.

My ds (3.8) has definitely had an "uncontrolled emotional outburst" in the past. Going by this definition it would be acceptable to call it a meltdown.

The DSM5 recognises meltdown as a symptom of MHD and ASD.

People will use words like that differently based on their own experiences.

If anyone can link to the medical definition I'd be interested.

I'm going against the grain here by agreeing with you OP. Mainly because I hate it with a passion when people say "Oh God I had a real panic attack about forgetting to buy XYZ (or something equally trivial).

No, you didn't. If you'd had a REAL panic attack you would think you were dying and / or going mad, that you couldn't breather, that you were going to be sick in front of everyone, and that this would be part of ongoing anxiety issues that were affecting your whole life and requiring proper treatment.

So no, YANBU

Op

Can I ask and I mean this kindly what is a meltdown for you?

www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/meltdown

OED definition.

I believe the phrase has recently been taken over by SN community to indicate a severe form of uncontrolled behaviour.

So YANBU to want people to differentiate between a tantrum and a SN meltdown but YABU to.expect a word.that.means one thing to the wider NT community to suddenly become something else. It will take time to evolve.

Yabu. Ffs, I've seen plenty of "tantrums" that are exactly like a meltdown.

Get over yourself.

Yabu for all the reasons mentioned.

Plus, suspect your urine does not actually reach 100C no matter how annoyed you get.

Dinky. Bit unfair. Should I get over myself when my dd is called spaz?
Oh, and tantrums are not exactly like a meltdown, they don't have an impact for hours, sometimes weeks afterwards. They are an in the moment thing that a meltdown is not.

My understanding is that meltdown is a common alternative for the word tantrum. Mumsnet is the only place I have ever read/heard that the word meltdown has a special meaning. I don't think most people who use meltdown would realise it had a special meaning to you and so I don't think they are trying to say that what they are describing is comparable to your experience.

You've got your logic the wrong way round here.

A behaviour may be symptomatic of y

Does not mean every time that behaviour is displayed it is because person x is suffering from/affected by y.

Low libido, for instance, is often cited as a symptom of depression. Can you see how silly it would be if people not suffering from depression were not allowed to say they had low libido?

But there are loads of such exaggerations used all the time: "she'll have a fit if she sees...", "you nearly gave me a heart attack!", "he was apoplectic" etc.

If you're guilty of this JUST STOP DOING IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Or you'll do what?

Meltdown?

YABU and a bit of a drama llama

YABVVVVVU. Get a hold of yourself you're on the verge of a melt down....

Ha @ Sassy!

It's just a word to me. I use it. So do many many many many many other people. They sell grips in shops I think...

Thing is, OhNo, I went through a phase of having panic attacks, complete with formal diagnosis, but they never involved thinking I was dying or going mad. So there often cannot be one narrow definition for this kind of thing anyway.

It comes up a lot on MN re migraine. People post complaining that friends call what is clearly just a bad headache a migraine, thereby devaluing the term. But then lots of migraine sufferers post their wildly different symptoms and disagree. Migraines don't always involve disabling pain and lying in a darkened room for 3 days.

It's difficult to lay claim to a term when it covers a lot of different things, or there is no consensus about what it does cover.