When *don't* you stim?

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I've seen a fair few "why do you stim" threads, and the responses tend to be divided between 2 types of people:

- Those who stim mainly in response to things, such as strong emotions or sensory overload.

- Those whose stimming is on by default, rather than for any particular reason.

Of course, these categories are oversimplifications, and there are people who are combinations of both.

My question is aimed at the second group. If your stimming is on by default, under what circumstances does it stop?

For me:

- When I'm asleep

- When I'm sick, particularly when I have a fever

- When I'm in shutdown

- When I'm engrossed in listening to music

- When I'm in a moving vehicle, although this isn't a guarantee of stopping it

- When I'm engaged in a fairly rhythmic non-stimming activity, such as walking (again, not a guarantee)

Same with if I'm sick I tend not to stim so much, and obviously I don't know what I do in my sleep but I do know that people have complained I kick/elbow them in my sleep so that could be stimming or just moving around a lot.

I also have the issue that family don't know about my semi-diagnosis, so often tell me to stop- specifically the ones like leg wiggling, jumping, stroking feet together and scratching which makes me really uncomfortable but I try to replace them with more subtle ones in those situations like touching my thumb to all my other fingers or fiddling with my USB (one of these ones) that i can push round and round for hours.

Also in situations where I try to avoid it (and fail) like funerals or interviews they tend to manifest in foot tapping or leg rubbing.

I feel like I'm always stimming in some way!

Last edited by thymps on 28 Jul 2013, 4:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

I've been through literally thousands of these little habits, so naturally I think I'm somewhere in the middle. Spinning pens, checking rss feeds, going nuts when I forget my watch, cleaning my glasses, drumming my fingers, almost all of them passed me by years ago. Now I mostly just stretch a lot, because it would truly and absolutely suck to get carpal tunnel, particularly for a software dude like myself.

edit: THOSE damn flashdrives... I still have a few around for some reason. I too am truly stunned they still have the metal parts...

I never stim in my dreams. Curious.

Some alternative hypothesis why some people think they only stim for no obvious reason:
1. They only do the stims that seem to be related to "bored" or "pleasure"
2. They haven't observed possible associations because they have read what science or psychiatry believe

I stim by default when I'm alone, but I can turn it off when I'm in public – mostly.

Listening to music doesn't really stop it. I either sing along or "conduct".
(I think Tchaikovsky's violin concerto is most fun to conduct.)

I stop stimming when I am focused on doing something like coding or stacking blocks.

My stimming is on by default, and my most common one is rocking.

My default stimming is not triggered by situations, emotions, stress, anxiety, overload.

I stim a lot in most situations and emotional states, but not when I am focused on doing something.

I stim in public and private, and I don't care if other people think its weird.

Someone asked me recently whar I was doing, and I said I was rocking back and forth.

I'm not too sure when I'm not doing it and I'm not always aware when I am doing it.

That's interesting. Neither do I. Nor do I have trouble with eye contact or coming up with stuff to say in my dreams.

I only do motor mannerisms when around people, overloaded by sensory stuff, and anxious.

When my girlfriend talks to me. But when she holds my hand, I flap my other hand crazily.

I will definitely not stim in public. I do not want any attention drawn to me.

With familiar people I will just pace in circles in the room. My few other stims I keep to myself privately.

I am very stimmy. I don't know if I ever stop. Maybe when I am sleeping.

Personally, I don't only stim for no obvious reason. There are things that will increase my stimming, and particular stims and particular ways of stimming are related to emotional states or overload. For example, I flap more when I'm excited or frustrated, and, when I'm close to a meltdown, my stims will look more jerky and spasmodic.

However, most of my stims do seem to be unrelated to emotional states, and rather seem to serve some motoric need. Sitting completely still for even a minute is HARD for me no matter how I feel.

How difficult do you find it to suppress your stimming?

My stimming slows when I am in shutdown and becomes a slow, rhythmic rocking.
It stops if I am ill and movement will hurt, though there are a few occasional rocks and then when I feel the pain it stops again. I will usually vocally stim at this point though because of the stress and emotional reaction to being unwell and uncomfortable, so it is only the rocking and large movement stims that stop.
If my body is particularly tired it becomes a stop-start kind of thing, a few minutes on and a few off.
It stops when I am sleeping or very, very relaxed.
Sometimes, if I am very deep in concentration, it will slow down or stop for a few minutes. It never really lasts long though in these cases.