Emotional meltdown

Hi,

As a background, I have bpd and I'm taking 100mg of quetiapine at night, nothing else. I work full time. Generally since I started taking the quetiapine I've been feeling more stable and I had high hopes. But at work yesterday I had a full blown emotional meltdown. I was so upset over the silliest thing. I cried and cried and when I'm like this I lose all sense of reality of the situation, its like the sensible side of my head just can't take over and say 'hey you why are you upset, there's nothing to cry over you're being silly, now pull yourself together'. My emotion just takes over entirely and then I lose all sense of appropriateness. In a normal mood I know that I will get in trouble if I spend hours (yes hours) away from my desk sobbing like a child sat in the stairwell. But when I'm in meltdown its like I can't tell myself not to do it because its not appropriate. Its actually quite scary, the lack of control I have like this and it terrifies me that I can't stop myself, especially when I'm in a professional environment. I guess this doesn't happen too often luckily, but I'd rather it didn't happen at all.

Does this happen to anyone else? Do you lose control when you're in emotional meltdown?

justagirl46 wrote:Do you lose control when you're in emotional meltdown?

Yes.

This happens to me quite frequently, though not in a work environment. I put it down to stress and feeling overwhelmed most of the time.

JAG, is this something that was happening before starting quetiapine?

This isn't meant to minimise your situation in any way, but I always find that emotional meltdowns are PMS related for me. They only happen the week before my period and I'm wondering whether this is the case for you?

I don't get them often, but when I do it's always hormonal.

Yes it definitely happened before the quetiapine. And yes it can most definitely be pms related. It just frightens me that in a professional environment I need to be able to have some control

I think many of us lose a sense of control when breakdowns are nearing, especially when the severity is more... inflated. BPD makes you kinda vulnerable to full blown episodes and it sucks, they're often unpredictable and inevitable. definitely one of the worst aspects of BPD if you ask me, they can hit you real hard, it can be kinda nasty at times. 99.9% of the time, mine scare people.

Do you think it's something I can learn to control?

justagirl46 wrote:Do you think it's something I can learn to control?

With the right treatment and support, absolutely.

justagirl46 wrote:Do you think it's something I can learn to control?

Whatever is overwhelming you should be dealt with first.

justagirl46 wrote:Yes it definitely happened before the quetiapine. And yes it can most definitely be pms related. It just frightens me that in a professional environment I need to be able to have some control

Is it better since you started taking it? If not, could you go back and ask for something else?

It sounds really silly, but I use the 7/11 breathing technique when I feel like I might freak out. Just take regular deep breaths in for the count of 7 and out for the count of 11. This reduces the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream, brings down your heart rate, reduces emotional arousal and generally clears your mind. It's so simple, but it's fab.