Can daydreaming be considered a stim?

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12 Dec 2012, 12:08 pm

IMO, I don't think so. I stim and I daydream. My stimming is constant, repetitive, and rhythmic and is cognitive and related to sensory processing. I also have repetitive thoughts and phrases which are possibly related to stimming. To me daydreaming doesn't feel the same as stimming. It doesn't seem to have the same motivation.

Drone
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12 Dec 2012, 12:16 pm

I daydream a whole lot. Especially to music. I also need to be moving while I daydream. I would consider it a stim. I never see anybody else walking in circles making odd movements.

Marybird
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12 Dec 2012, 12:50 pm

Drone wrote:

I daydream a whole lot. Especially to music. I also need to be moving while I daydream. I would consider it a stim. I never see anybody else walking in circles making odd movements.

I daydream while walking in circles to music and stimming also. Never considered the daydreaming to be part of the stimming though, just that I stim while daydreaming. Maybe it is, but I don't know

Cuckooflower
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12 Dec 2012, 1:32 pm

MrXxx wrote:

No.

The whole point of stimming is "self stimulation." It is sensory stimulation used for various reasons, most of which amount to helping one concentrate, block out other stimula, or to cause a soothing effect mentally.

It's an external stimulus one creates through visible and/or audible and/or tactile actions. The reason we do it is specifically because we're not able to do so mentally. Daydreaming is a mental activity. Not stimming.

Okay. That makes sense. So I suppose it cannot be strictly classed as a stimming behaviour as such, even if it is absorbing or whatever else.

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MrXxx
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12 Dec 2012, 1:39 pm

Cuckooflower wrote:

MrXxx wrote:

Okay. That makes sense. So I suppose it cannot be strictly classed as a stimming behaviour as such, even if it is absorbing or whatever else.

Exactly. If we're able to calm or sooth ourselves mentally, we don't need to stim. Stimming is a way of coping when we can't manage to calm ourselves mentally.

That's why a commonly used method for overcoming stimming (especially stimming that could cause self harm), is meditation (very similar to daydreaming if you think about it).

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drchcat85
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18 Dec 2014, 3:02 pm

I think, daydreaming is a stim behaviour. When I get sensory overload or anxious in social situations, I start to dream. At school, many classes made me bored, then I used to daydream.

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18 Dec 2014, 3:37 pm

I think stimming refers to strictly physical self-stimulation rather than mental. For myself, I wouldn't classify daydreaming as a stim.

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18 Dec 2014, 9:09 pm

I wouldn't classify it as a stim nor a mental stim, but it seems to have a similar effect. When my autistic friend can't stim he stays in his head and thinks about random stuff.

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EzraS
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18 Dec 2014, 11:03 pm

I would say daydreaming the same thing over and over could be a stim. I do that to help relax me. I probably do less more typical stims when I'm doing that.

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18 Dec 2014, 11:15 pm

I would start daydreaming when really stressed out, so in that way it is a stim.

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18 Dec 2014, 11:16 pm

EzraS wrote:

I would say daydreaming the same thing over and over could be a stim. I do that to help relax me. I probably do less more typical stims when I'm doing that.

If it's a stim then I stim every night so I can get to sleep.

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