Stimming Schizophrenia?

Post Reply New Topic

So I have been googling stimming in schizophrenia but can't seem to find anything... I have looked on here as well and posted a few times... But I was wondering does anybody have any inofrmation about schizophrenia stims?

I.e.
1. Are they different to ASD Stims
2. Does it fulfil a different purpose
3. What does it feel like to stim for a schizophrenic

I realize that this post is kinda old, so I'm pretty much necroposting, but I just wanted to add a few things.

Hope I'm not making a bad first impression. = S

I'll start out by saying that everybody stims Some people do it in more discrete ways, like playing with their hair or biting on the end of a pen or pencil, while others do it in more obvious ways, like rocking, hand flapping, etc.

I have schizophrenia, and I stim a lot. I have a couple different stims, but my most common ones are rocking and rubbing my thumbs on my finger tips. I also have sensory processing issues and my therapist says that some of the things I do in relation to that could also count as stimming, such as how I almost always have something in my mouth.

Now for your questions:
1. Many of the stims I do are the same as the stims that people with ASD do.
2. I use stimming for lots of different reasons. I use it to calm myself, self regulate, and when I'm anxious, scared, or just bored. Although, I have noticed that I do stim sometimes when I'm really happy. So I guess I stim for pretty much the same reasons.
3. From what I've read about what it feels like when a person with ASD stims, it's pretty much the same.

One last thing, please don't say "schizophrenic." Some people don't mind, but others of us don't like it. When saying someone is a schizophrenic, you are defining them by their illness. I am not schizophrenic (literal definition: character of schizophrenia), but I do have schizophrenia. Therefore, I am a person with schizophrenia, not a schizophrenic.

Hope I helped!

I don't think the OP meant "schizophrenic" that way. We say "I'm autistic" or "I'm an Aspie" all the time here, because autism is a part of who we are, even though we know very well that we are a great deal more than walking blobs of autism. It's like saying "I'm a woman" even though you know you are much more than just your gender, or "I'm a cashier" even though you know you're much more than your profession. So in this case it is a neutral thing to say, just like calling yourself "autistic". I'm quite sure no offense was meant.

Yeah, I understand that. But I don't like to refer to someone as being schizophrenic or bipolar or autistic or anything like that for two reasons: 1. I like to use people first language because it focuses more on the person than the thing wrong with them. And 2. I tend to be a very literal thinker as well as a grammar nazi, so when someone says "schizophrenic," I jump to the literal definition of "character of schizophrenia." (Autistic = character of autism) As for bipolar, when someone says they are bipolar vs. having bipolar, I ask how they can be a disorder. Get it?

I wasn't pointing it out to be rude or anything, I just wanted to tell her that because some of us just don't like it.

For one thing, you're in the vast minority here on that issue. For another, you can't expect everyone to change for a few people. Finally, it's impossible to please everyone and someone will take issue no matter what you say. The best you can do is to please the majority, which in this case is to use the adjectives.

I happen to hate the word Aspie. I hate it. I think it's absolutely ridiculous to take a disorder and give it a cute nickname. But the thing is that I'm not really an Aspie, not to mention, I'm in the minority by a longshot, so basically it's 1. not up to me and 2. doesn't matter what I think.

So, rather than fighting city hall, if you want to post here, I recommend, well, erm, dealing with it.

Sorry. I didn't realize that saying that using a certain word bugs me and how I'd rather people use people first language would start such a debate. Like I said, I didn't mean to be rude.

What you didn't realize is that there's a good number of us on here who find in reference to themselves 'has autism' rather than 'autistic' offensive. http://juststimming.wordpress.com/2011/ ... m-parents/ has some good description of that preference.

Why is it so important that I believe the sane things you do? It feels like you're forcing you opinions onto me. I've been here less than one day and I already feel like crap. Maybe I don't belong on here after all. So much for thinking I might have finally found a place where I might actually be accepted and understood...

You don't have to. But like us respecting your preference in language, you need to respect ours rather than trying to make us change our preferences for you. You can choose to use language that is focusing on the person being more than the disability and we can choose to use language that is based on the disability being part of the person that helps define them (the difference in much stronger in autism than schizophrenia I'd imagine as with ASDs this has necessarily been part of us our entire life).

But when you asked us to change our choice of language, that is relevant to many more than just you then no, we can't do that just for your preferences. We can however respect your personal preference, if we are referring to you in particular try to remember to not use the word "schizophrenic" and not take offense to you using "person with autism" rather than "autistic".

You see "schizophrenic" as defining someone as defining someone by their disability.
I see "person with autism" as saying that I'm lesser and have something wrong with me rather than someone who happens to be disabled and autistic.

Okay. I can understand that. I would really appreciate it if you could refrain from calling me schizophrenic. And I'll try to remember to use autistic instead.

I guess I kinda over reacted earlier. I'm sorry for that. I just have really had a great, well, year, to be honest. Thanks for sticking with me and explaining it that way.

We may not remember. But, if we do forget, I can safely say it wouldn't be because we thought schizophrenia was something that overwhelmed a person's identity and made them less worthwhile. We'd say it the same way we mean "autistic"--it's a part of a person's life, which changes who they are; it's not something to be ashamed of or to tiptoe around; it's a part of the human experience. So, if we do, I hope you won't be offended.

Plenty of other disabled people are doing similar things, refusing to use person-first language and even reclaiming formerly pejorative terms like "crip" or "gimp" or "mad". I've called myself weird lots of times without meaning a single bit of self-deprecation, because I feel like "weird" is an okay thing to be, not a bad thing like some people seem to think. I'd rather not tip-toe around the language, if I can help it; I'd like to be able to talk about autism as casually as I talk about having brown hair or being an American or living with two cats, or any other part of my life.

Maybe it's an autistic thing, at least partly. There's something about me, and many others, that makes us want to say things straight up, be blunt and direct and honest about them. Linguistic diplomacy just isn't our style.

Also remember that different disability groups have different views regarding person-first language. For example most people with cognitive disabilities prefer person-first language, whereas autistic people usually don't.

If you'd rather be described as a person with schizophrenia, I'm fine with that, as long as you're fine with calling me an autistic person.

Anyway, back on topic, I haven't read any research literature about schizophrenia and stimming. But Jani Schofield definitely stims. It would be interesting to study that question sometime.

Callista: I'll try not to get offended, but if I repeatedly ask a person not to call me that, it does get kinda annoying, you know?

I actually do just casually joke about schizophrenia with my friends and family. My theory? What's the point of having schizophrenia if you can't have fun with it every once in a while? Haha.

Ettina: Thanks, I'd appreciate that. And I'll try to remember to call you an autistic person.

I follow Jani Schofield quite a lot. She definitely does stim a lot. I've done a lot of research and talk a good bit with my therapist about this, and schizophrenia and autism actually have a lot in common. In the DSM it says to rule out schizophrenia under autism and autism under schizophrenia. There's a cool website that has a detailed chart comparing autism, schizophrenia, and alzheimers. Would it be okay to post that link?

Sure. Sounds interesting. Be aware, though, that if you're a very new poster the forum may not display your link - it's a way of discouraging spammers.

moved from General Autism Discussion to Bipolar, Tourettes, Schizophrenia, and other Psychological Conditions

Yeah, I saw somewhere that newbies weren't really supposed to post links, so I thought I'd ask first.

Here it is: Autism vs. Schizophrenia