Can smoking be a stim?

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From my understanding the reason why people with Autism/Aspergers stim is because we need more sensory input which causes the anxiety and helps us calm down. I stim a lot when I'm not physically active, and I don't do sensory integration therapy.

I think for smoking it is for completely different reasons. However, I think people with Aspergers who smoke can be using it to seek sensory input.

I brush my teeth too hard and chew gum and have an oral fixation because of my sensory integration problems. Smoking helps this, but also has chemicals and addiction and health problems. Chewing gum is a much better alternative that works better.

Maybe... But when it comes to smoking, I prefer vaping, it's less harmful

It is for me , it's not just an oral stim , I roll my own. It will kill me - don't care

Perhaps, but is a chemical assisted stim a true stim?

Don't smoke, humans.

Yes I think it could be called stimming. It's true that nicotine is very addictive, and you might think that explains the whole phenomenon, but the psychology of smoking has other dimensions. I think smokers get some comfort simply from the repetitive actions of smoking, like they might from a fidget toy.

I use a nicotine vaping pen these days, to keep the health risks down to a reasonable level, and I've noticed that even when I've got plenty of nicotine in my system I'll still suck away at it. I seem to need a lot of repetitive activities like that in my life, another one is that I almost constantly drink tea. I find it hard to imagine staying sane and stable if I didn't use such things to prop me up. I try to avoid anything that looks too unusual so that I won't get ostracised for it.

It's well known that repetitive behaviour tends to damp down stress. I don't see any great difference between NTs and ASD people in that respect, except in terms of degree and the eccentricity of the types of stress relief they choose. Whether or not you'd call it stimming depends on your definition of stimming.

I started smoking socially, with my friends at college. It was a nice opportunity to chat with friends, skip classes and meet new people huh. Later I gave up nicotine in favor , smoking was definitely a really harmful and addictive habit.

I think that it most certainly can be. The whole point of a stim is to relieve anxiety. I'm pretty sure my Mom is autistic and she has been smoking a very long time and can't seem to quit. She also picks her skin constantly. I wish she would quit. I even tried to have her hypnotized (didn't work). It stinks up the whole house and her health is declining due to her poor lifestyle choices.

The still very active original poster started this thread seven years ago. Then someone revived it a couple months ago for the current vaping generation.

Just saying it so you all know.

Its still relevant.

Yes. I can imagine that smoking cigarettes could start out as a stim and become a chemical addiction (while still being a stim on top of that).

Or its like a stim. It forces you to stop and take a time out. Even in the Fifties you had to take the time to stick the thing into your mouth and set it on fire. And nowadays you also have to step outside while you do it. Which can be a good thing because it gives you an excuse to leave a stressful situation for a moment. So the motivation can be similar to that for stimming.

I like walking long distances fast, especially late at night while smoking a pipe. For some reason that is a good de-stressor.

(Smoking tobacco is never good for you, but the point of pipes is not to inhale them--because that smoke only tastes nice. It doesn't go down nicely. I'm not sure about the nicotine. I can smoke two bowls one after another and not get a headache--did that for science--but try to limit to smoking biweekly or once a week.)

No, I don't think so

I believe it is for me.
I smoked 60 a day prior to being diagnosed, then I moved to nicorette inhalators for 15 years and constantly had one in my hand and then I unfortunately tried someone's vape whilst in a psych unit this year and yeah... Very very expensive.

Have given up after 40 years - the nicotine was easy, i'm still vaping cbd butget the most calming effect from smoking herbal rolled cigs with no nicotine - I would say that smoking can be stimming, as well as the rolling etc.

Stimming is a self stimulatory behavior.
Most of which are to regulate internal affairs of the human state.

No matter how appropriate, inappropriate, safe, unsafe, painful, pleasurable, healthy, unhealthy.

Everything can be a stim.
And stimming isn't an autistic exclusive thing. It's not even an ND exclusive thing.


It's never about flapping hands and walking on toes.
It's simply all about sensory stimuli soothing one's senses.


Habitual smoking is usually a form of oral fixation.
And oral fixations are all under the category of stimming.

Therefore, yes.

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