Adults: stimming in general

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Just did xristmas and took a tranquilizer before, so it went ok. I was in some zone where I noticed what I was doing and I bounce mostly and rock some, scratch knot and click hair, bite fingers and more. I wonder if my family has learned to ignore it or if it not very obvious. What I noted most was I like to rub textures and blank my mind when stressed. I had on satiny crinkle and plush pile and soft leather belt. I rubbed all of them and couch and carpet and flicking book pages while staring at it. Combs are great for stress too.

Another thing, I couldn't help dil when she asked if I could tell my son not to bounce his leg and mine began to bounce, so I told her no. We both sat there scratching and bouncing, rocking and wriggling. She left for bed. Sil got aggravated with nt daughter and I picking apart the movie, but gave up and tried to ignore us chattering. Maybe he has trouble concentrating. I noticed so much more of the movie details from the drug like where cuts were made. My eyes processed faster I guess.

Wow, we have some foot rubbers here.

I rub my feet together, or on a soft blanket, I pinch my fingers together, I rock, I move my feet back on forth on the floor, especially if there's a cushy carpet, I pile a ton of blankets on me for the pressure, and I have a tendency to emote out loud if I'm not careful. There's also some self-mutilating stuff I did like scratching until I bled, and then irritating that, but when I became aware (isn't that funny how we are unaware of some of these?) I had to work at really stopping it, because I was getting infections.

The one that drives my sister nuts is the one where I slide a bic lighter between my fingers in a constant rhythmic motion, tapping it on the table to turn it over. If she takes it away from me, I move on to the pen, which isn't as satisfying, but works, and then she'll take that away from me. Then I play with this bowl of marbles she has on the table, which is a different sort of stim from the lighter.

Then she takes the bowl away from me, and while she's putting it in her china closet, I find her other lighter.

Hehe.

Lets see... public.
Foot tapping
chewing the inside of my mouth
playing with my hair
Staring into space (nearly got me into a fight once!!)

private... where to begin!
all of above
hair pulling (trichotillamania)
rocking
wrapping up tightly in my duvet
tensing muscles in my legs repeatedly
whisper-singing through my nose (really hard to explain)

BTW HATING my AS/ADD today

bouncing my leg
repeatedly cracking my finger (bending it till it pops)
squeezing my bottom lip and tugging it lightly with my fingers
clenching my hands together
staring out window while in the car
dropping coins on top of each other repeatedly
clearing my throat
grinding my teeth
chewing on the inside of my cheek
rocking back and forth

Also if there are objects near my hands I end up missing with it over and over again.

I walked on my tiptoes when I was younger. The only stimming I do is in private. I take a piece of fabric, usually a sheet, and fold it into a corner. I then rub the corner over and in between my fingers. I've done this since I was little; I would call it my "snippy."

I also take a smooth fabric, such as silk, and rub it together.

I scratch my scalp as well.

I've only started inventorying them since I found out about them a couple weeks ago, so there are probably more:

Public:
Pinching my lip between my fingers. I resist it at work by resting my chin in my hand all the time, or straightening my goatee
Spinning back and forth in office chairs, mostly in meetings
Cracking my knuckles and bending my fingers back (who wants carpal tunnel, right? )
Neatly folding straw wrappers into random shapes at restaurants. It helps me forget that other people can overhear my conversation, and I CAN'T stop until the food arrives
Pulling on the barbell in my tongue with my teeth

Private:
Lip pinching, pulling, biting
Rocking
Half-whistling
Hand flapping (from childhood, but I've been allowing myself to do it lately so I can understand it)
Full-body shivers
Tensing leg muscles to the beat of whatever song is playing in my head
Tapping out elaborate rhythms with my fingers to music
Pacing

Is there a difference between stims that are calming and stims that are energizing?

public
Nail-biting is my biggest one - It's so bad that I usually can't open soft drink cans without using my teeth or some other instrument.

I tap my fingers on hard surfaces whenever I'm listening to music as well, usually to very syncopated / broken beats.

I used to be a chronic leg-bouncer as well, but it's not as bad now as it used to be.

private
Clicking / snorting / sub-vocalisation

Biting my lip

Occasional hand-flapping

Never heard of stimming before I came here. Been thinking though and I guess I do it a lot.

main ones I do a LOT

Mostly finger nail biting, picking. Nothing bad though, my finger nails arent stubs. I just pick at them without even realising it. All the time.
Touching finger + thumb on both hands at the same spots at the same time. Or also sometimes if I touch a rough edge of of something with a fingertip touch it with the same finger on other hand to "even the sensation". This can sometimes take a while to achieve. Usually subtle though so I doubt its noticeable.

others I do a little

Used to bounce my foot when sitting down but I dont do that much any more.
Cheek biting
biting lips sometimes
"bouncing" on my toes if Im stuck behind someone slow when walking
think out loud, make vocal noises a lot when Im on my own but never in front of other people, is that stimming?

Stim-ulating topic

Lots of hand stims (including a stereotyped rapid right hand palm up then down at my side).

Lots of foot and leg stims

Head and Face Stims (some may be tics)

This all adds up to lots of movements/energy.

Is anyone else bothered by the same stims we do when others do them? I find them distracting, but tolerate them in others hoping for Karma.

i didnt know all these things were stimming i just thought everyone did most of the above but where possible tried to hide things if i think someone will think they are odd, cant help grimacing or handwringing and blushing when im nervous . i also pace a lot usually in circles and the more nervous i am the faster it becomes at home i talk to myself a lot bang things in a repetative motion because i like the sound it makes plus lots the same as everyone else

I have always stimmed.

I rock slightly when I'm reading or if I'm seated in a stressful situation like outside the Principals office.

I almost always carry a toy that I fidget with in public. Right now I have a shiny brass ring that serves me quite nicely.

In private, at least I don't think I do it in public, I flap my right hand when I'm excited.

I have explained my stimming like this. If you won the lottery you would probably jump up and down with excitement and care very little for what other people thought. My stimming is just like that but I care how I appear to other people, a little.

Public:
-tons of leg bouncing (people don't like to sit next to me, lol)
-rubbing my lips together then pulling at the dead bits
-playing with my tongue ring
-playing with my medic alert bracelet (that's a big one)

Not in public:
-humming no particular song, just crazy humming
-repeating stuff said on the TV...I have never known why I do this, and I don't really know if it's an AS thing. I'm looking at a list of stims and it seems to fit under verbal
-hand flapping (tiny bit, not much)
-rocking (I've only done this a handful of times when I'm really upset...it sort of hurts my head as I have a brain condition thing)

Stimming is something I'm unfamiliar with and I don't think I'm good at identifying stims. I would like to understand why we do it. I had the greatest toy (not a stim toy, but I guess I used it as that) here's a link (click). I'd be interested in stim toys that can be taken in class if anyone knows of good ones.

hand flailing
leg bouncing
biteing myself
stareing into space or lights
odd random noises
tapping(fingers)
sweaying
all go crazy the more nurvise I get

Public:
grinding/clicking my teeth
leg bouncing
I sometimes walk on my toes
bite the sides of my nails
bite my lip, top or bottom
flick my fingers
dig objects under my nails
squeeze my thumb with the other hand

Private:
all of the above
sometimes I pace in circles
if something reminds me of a line in a song I have to sing the line
rocking