When do you stim?

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Greetings. I wanted to ask you guys when you stim, like, in terms of emotions? Like, when you are overstimulated, bored, excited, sad, etc..

For me, I stim the most when I'm excited. If I am sitting down and I am excited, I will rock back and forth. If I am standing up and am excited, I will jump/bounce, smile really big. If I am walking when I'm excited, I will walk on my front toes and also jump. I also want to hug someone more.

If I am bored or understimulated, I may rock back and forth, just not as much.

Also, if I'm overstimulated by noises, I will cover my ears.

When I'm anxious, I fidget with anything I can find.

I also shake/bounce my leg anytime I'm sitting or lying down, but I don't count that as a stim.

I stim generally only when I am completely alone so no one will see or hear me. It's generally when I'm feeling really overwhelmed by my emotions.

I stim mostly when I am really excited, really anxious, or really upset.

All the time.

Before I discovered Wrong Planet, I'd never heard of the word "stim".
I used to think what I did was called "getting rid of nervous energy."

And I didn't know it was something restricted to being autistic.
People who twirled or chewed on their hair, or bit their nails, or drummed their fingers or tapped with a pen or pencil ... were exhibiting nervousness.

I've tended towards the more autistic version of "getting rid of nervous energy" ...
rocking, pacing, and yes ... bouncing your leg (that does indeed count).

I've read in scientific literature that the reason why I do these repetitive motions
is so that I can better feel where my body is located in space.
Yeah, I can see that as being part of it.

Otherwise, I'm just floating around the cosmos.

Particularly now, I suppose, as I haven't yet answered the question
and am rambling ...

So as for "when" ...
mostly when I'm alone
and/or when I've just received some exciting, usually happy news.

At work where I have harsh lighting, noise, people and a to-do list to overwhelm me, I tap my fingertips against my thumbs in a fast rhythmic pattern. If I can get a moment alone I press the heels of my palms into my eye sockets, but I've been caught doing this a few times which was embarrassing

If I'm panicking or upset about a specific situation (usually social stuff), I rock back and forth, but only if I'm on my own.

I also have an eating disorder that I consider stimming, and I do it every day or I become very upset. The reasons are twofold; one- not eating dulls the senses, so I am less likely to be overwhelmed by sensory things, and two- it's a way of adding control/routine to my day (usually I would stim to combat a lack of control/routine).

When I'm excited, nervous, with a group of people, or concentrating on a difficult problem at work. I use more subtle stims when I'm in public (twisting hair, bobbing my knee, tapping my foot or moving my heel back and forth, twiddling my fingers or a pen). They aren't as effective as stims involving my spine: bobbing/swaying my head, rocking, swaying, or twisting my whole body or torso. At home, I crank up my favorite tunes and start bobbing and twisting away. I also dance like a dork when nobody is looking

Happy and/or nervous stim: Swiping away non-existent dust on the table before me because the cool temperature and smooth surface relaxes me. Absent a table, I swipe my pants because it is better than nothing.

Angry and/or confused stim: Standing up, quietly closing the nearest door, and shaking my arms up and down until the exhaustion takes over and calms me. I used to clench my teeth when angry; and I ended up cracking a couple teeth and fillings. DON'T DO THAT.

Noise stim: Leave immediately to a quite place, usually outdoors. Walk around, slooowly calm my thoughts and stop swearing.

For me, it's more like when don't I stim?!
I do it constantly. The only difference is the type of stim.

When I'm happy, or anxious.

I'm always moving my legs around and usually when in private or with my close friend I'll move my hands around.

Pretty much all the time. More so when I'm excited, nervous, unhappy, don't feel good, anxious, bored, annoyed, impatient, anticipating etc.

Whenever I feel strong emotions, and physically feel "off" is when I stim, or just because.

When I am excited or profoundly content my stims usually are accompanied by sound effects. These are not favorites of the others in my household. When I am anxious I just shut down completely. Otherwise I seek out textures, mostly.

I stim a lot when I'm excited, overstimulated, anxious, frustrated, overwhelmed, or bored. When I'm excited, I usually flap rapidly while bouncing and humming. Frustration looks much the same, except I pace instead of bounce. When overstimulated, I run as fast as I can, or pace in circles if I'm in a confined space. Anxiety provokes rocking, flapping, and echolalia, typically a line from a movie I like, or an attempt at calming self-talk, e.g "you're okay you're okay you're okay you're okay" over and over.

I don't really care who sees me or what they think when I'm stimming, so I do it wherever I am and in front of whomever I'm with, including the people I work with, who all know I'm autistic.