Stimming with Clothes

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Could me changing from regular clothes to looser fitting/ baggy clothes be a stimming because anytime I change it is usually because I’m anxious and the looser clothing feels a lot lighter than regular fitting/baggy clothing and doesn’t make me feel like I’m being suffocated.

Sims usually involve repetitive actions, so I wouldn't classify what you described as a stim.

I meant to add it’s not just once sometimes I’ll change my shirts 3 or 4 different times and like 3 times with my pants or shorts

I mean the whole baggy fitting clothing is common with a lot of people with sensory issues. I like to wear either really loose shirts or tight fitting shirts. As far as that goes I don't think that would count as stimming but it might be a ritual of sorts.

It's more appropriate than stimming without clothes...just saying...

Not sure if putting clothes on and off is stimming. Uhmmm.

Will give an example of subtle stimming I caught myself doing today. As I was walking in a small town where I am not usually out in a public place, I was a little nurvous and walking quickly and I found I was rubbing one of my coat popper fastner buttons in a circular motion as I walked.

Stimming is soothing little habbits one does to keep oneself calm.

Not sure that's a stim, but it does sound sensory-related.

Was that to ChristineJarvis21 or written to me?

This sounds sensory related.

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 07 Oct 2020, 9:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

It definitely sounds like a stim to rub a button in a circular motion. And it sounds like a good subtle stim entirely appropriate for public!

Other subtle stims are to pick up a screw or maybe a smooth pebble and hold it in my fingers and rub it as I walk along.. Not sure why but I do funny things like this! My mother does the same at times.

Other stims are more annoying to other people like when I was in school I would be told off for figeting or sometimes my leg would bounce up and down when I was concentrating, or I would keep clicking a pen or something like that... Rapping my fingers on a desk is another.

When walking along, gently letting my fingers touch and gently rub railings or walls in a child like way... All sorts of subtle stims... I did jot know they were stimming at all before I joined this site. I thought stimming was rocking back and fore. I never knew it can take different forms. It came as a shock to find some of these quirky things I do are stimming. I did not actually hear the term until about three or four years ago when I was dating a lady with aspergers syndrome, and she had me take one of those online tests and it asked "Do you stim?" I asked her what it was and she said "Rocking back and fore". So I answered "No" on the test (And to two or three other things that I didn't realize I did) but I still had a result which said "See a health professional". It took me two years of tryingto ask as I kept having mindblank when I tried to ask directly like doctors want me to. (Doctor appointments have a certain time so I find to express myself in a short time difficult, as I get mindblank unless I talk around on tangents to come back to the point I needed to make).

It just seems like when I have to change my clothes it’s more when I’ve started feeling anxious or there’s just a lot of noise. Would that still be a sensory issue?

I hate fitted clothing. So I'm pretty much defaulted to looking like I just stepped outta P Diddy's office. (Fortunately it matches my love for hip-hop) Except when I was fortunate to be working ( call centre work ) where I would be in fitted clothes and almost always in a suit or only missing the jacket. In response to your question, I would think that it's most definitely just sensory thing. But I guess if you get comfort or stress / anxiety release from your actual outfit then that is what I guage my stimming on if that helps.

Dani.

I touch things in public now and I used to refrain from it as it's deemed very weird by social standards except I just can't seem to help it sometimes as I just have to touch rails, walls, plants etc just cause I'm desperate to know what it feels like. Often I am already touching the said thing by the time I realise that I'm looking strange to on lookers it's too late and I'm already touching it. OMG I'm so weird.

For me, it would be. The more stressed or anxious I get, the worse my sensory stuff gets. Which sucks because the more my sensory stuff bothers me, the more stressed and anxious I get. Not saying it's necessarily the case for you, but i think it's common enough for people with even mild sensory issues to have emotional upsets make their sensory issues more severe.

Ya ha. Sounds like me. The more I stim the more I'm aware I'm doing it and when this happens in public it usually doesn't end well. As I've no escape to immediately be able to shut everything out in an instant. So we can imagine seeing as my goto is drinking alcohol so I'm not wreathed outta my skin with anxiety as stimming excessively to provide the exact or close to same relief that I fill with alcohol isn't an option as I'm often mocked these days rather than just know I'm standing out is too much. So .. come to think of it I have nfi how this is helpful. so I mean it seems logical to me to get drunk and double as my meltdown cause rather than looks a fool and just stim and be labelled as a f wit ret*d