Daydream stimming

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**Update: I have written more lucidly on this topic here: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt254494.html

In that thread I explain that my stereotypy is only coincidental to my stimming. Thanks to being more self-aware about it, I previously made a wrong assumption about it. I do daydream lot, so I made the mistake of thinking there is a correlation.

(Post edited by TallyMan on behalf of OP)

I do flap my hands and I also sometimes flicker my fingers in the corner of my eye. Flickering them in front of the eyes doesn’t have the same effect. Yes, I have studied it…

I do it for example when I am excited or a positive, exciting thought comes to mind, while listening to music or seeing, hearing and sensing something nice… And sometimes I just do it… I did it even while writing this, though that was about excitement. I probably do it also while daydreaming. When I am anxious or I have negative feelings, I usually shake my head from side to side. But I don’t do it as often. I'd say it is mostly an internal feeling that causes me to stim. But internal feelings sometimes have an external reason. Rocking seems to be mostly neutral. And also while playing an instrument, it is obligatory.

I have actually in adulthood observed my stimming more, since it took a long time before I even became kind of conscious of most of my stims. I knew from early on I’d rock and did another stim, when anxious, but other than that I was pretty unaware of it. For example a couple 13 year old boys in the school had this hand sign, which I knew meant me. Actually they were mimicking my hand movement. But back then I tried to figure my head out, what it could mean. I came to the conclusion that it had to mean something sexual, because the other hand signs they used in the presence of females did… And I mean I really tried to understand to which sort of a sexual thing flapping your hand could refer to...

Now I just pace at the very most, but in the past I would make noises to supplement my imagination, and I might have flapped my hands.

So I'm not the only one doing that...

It was much more common for me as a child. I used to pace & shake strings or socks while starting to daydream. I can do this now, but more often I just tune in to memories. Still, I spend a lot of time in my head..

Sincerely,
Matthew

It's enough to smile randomly during the day. I guess it confuses many people, but in those moments I am happy to be happy.

What some of you are describing sounds very much like Maladaptive Daydreaming. It's a condition that causes excessive daydreaming. Some people with this problem will do repetitive stim-like movements while they daydream. Look up Maladaptive Daydreaming in a search engine to learn more.

I do.

I pace or, if the weather permits, go outside running when I daydream. I also toe-walk and make hand gestures that mimic the ones being used by characters in my daydreams. I've never been able to sit still while I daydream. I also use music to set the right moods for different types of daydreams (for example, classical music for romantic daydreams, rock music for morbid daydreams, etc.) Music also blocks out all external stimuli that might interrupt my daydreams.

It is exactly when I am daydreaming that I need to stimm/fidget.

Dunno if it's stimming per se, but I do find myself acting out daydreams. Usually this only happens when I am alone, but I notice that if I am having a daydream where I am laughing I will start laughing out loud, or if I am giving a thumbs up in a daydream I will do that in real life. I try not to, but it just happens anyway. Sometimes I stim after a daydream too, especially if it was a good one.