Meltdown in The start of something?

My almost 19 year old son had a melt down today. It was over nothing, but as these things go, it doesn’t take much to send people who are already stressed and anxious over the edge.

Last night when he came home I was lying in bed and we chatted a bit, then I asked him if was working on Monday.. he said no he didn’t think so. I said, why don’t you call them and check? And he started to, then said, nah, he was pretty sure he wasn’t…

But turns out he was. He got a call just about the time I was going to lunch. They asked where he was and demanded he be there in 30 minutes. Where we live is not that far out of the city, but we’re three kms from the train station and the buses that come by to take you down there don’t come very often.... So he started stressing. He was getting angry with himself for not being on top of this situation… he decided he’d ride his bike but then realised he didn’t have a lock for it so where was he going to leave it? So that stressed him more… so then he sends me a text that was quite rambly and talked about how much he hated himself and how dumb he was and how he wished the bus would just run him over. I was worried and scared.

I called him and tried to calm him but he was crying and just not rational. He hung up on me and didn’t answer the phone again. I texted his sister and she called him as she was getting out of class… she said he was in a bad way when she tried to talk to him too…

I knew once he got to work and into the normalcy of the job he would be ok, but I was honestly a bit worried about him making it there....

He was anxious and crying as he walked into the work place and his manager pulled him aside and told him don’t worry about it… he said they weren’t that busy anyhow and to go and high five everyone on the floor before he started work (to calm him down.. what a good manager hey)… so it all ended up being ok. I met him after work and we came home together and we talked a bit more about it.

He was ok but I hope he doesn’t get used to people being nice to him when he has a freak out. You know what I mean? Obviously I’m always going to be sensitive to him because I’m his mum, but I hope he doesn’t think that’s the only way to get people to be nice to you… have a freak out....

He did seem a bit more determined to find another job and said he’s apply tonight for jobs online. I really hope he’s doing that right now.....