Stimming

Post Reply New Topic

Is your aim to reduce the stimming as its own end, or merely to reduce the stimming in public? The reason for asking is that I managed over time to become relatively good at hiding my stims in public. For the most part, anyway. It really didn't do any good. The result was stress, and severe stimming when I finally got home from school or work.

Perhaps my advice is worthless, but unless his stims are obviously very bad (ie, swinging a roaring chainsaw in wild circles while walking through the mall) you might be better off to just leave him alone. The opinions of others in here might differ.

I rock back and forth myself. Done it since day one and still do when I am seated.

"Today's A Good Day. I Came For Alexia But Killing You Is Even Better." Albert Wesker Resident Evil: Code Veronica X

I just thought of one I felt like mentioning. I wear my hair in braids and i grab both braids and vigorously shake them at the same time.....(the idea is to shake all the stray hair loose)...but it counts as stimming because I do it for that purpose..and also it cools the scalp.

Also I take my shoes off (i always wear slip-on sandals..no socks....) and spin them around with my toes....I shake my feet a-lot!....although I hand flap, I foot flap alot more.

Lately, Flakey has taken to mimick my hand flapping(for fun)..it has become our special greeting where we will say 'hello" and hand flap at each other from across the room.

i flex and unflex the muscles in my legs almost constantly... and wiggle my toes... all my shoes have a hole in the top where my big toe is from wiggling them all the time...

When I wore canvas shoes, there was always a hole for the pinky toe.

I use to do things like that when I was about 5-7 years old I don't anything like that anymore.

I usually stim when I feel stress and/or when I have the urge to. I've began to hand flap when I have a really bad thought cross my mind and when I'm on the computer. Another stim I have is making screeching/squealing noises. When I'm very stressed, I scream. I'm 16, and I've been stimming since I was a little girl.

I'm sure it can qualify for stimming. Technically, the list would be endless if one was compiled of all the possible stims. Upon closer analysis of myself, I've found that I engage in numerous stims (here's a list):

contracting muscles, sometimes holding a specific position until fatigue sets in.
peeling/chewing skin off lips
rubbing eyebrows
drumming fingers on surfaces
repeatedly touching objects
pencil twirling
biting my tongue
the "eternal potty dance;" slight side-to-side rocking and convulsion-like movements
making things go blurry (by doing this strange thing involving using muscles in my eyes)
looking through things (things with openings or which distort the view)
moving my head to see the light move on an object
leg wiggling
rubbing eyes
standing with my back firmly against a wall
making my eyes dart around rapidly
having weight on my torso and sides (not sure if this is a stim, but it does provide sensory input and organizes my mind)
picking up things in an unusual manner (to feel the muscles and tendons/ligaments working)
Making a grunting noise (I don't notice when I do it, but everyone else around me does)

I never knew what it was till recently,I just thought I was abnormally fidgety because of anxiety.I curl and flex my toes,I can even " snap" them,pull dry skin.twist and run my fingers thru my hair,look for split ends and snap them( I do not pull my hair out)tap my fingers,bite my fingers plus finger nails,swing my foot,bounce my leg and when I was little I would roll up in the bed sheets like a burrito.it felt so snug(like a bug in a rug).The adults weren't too happy since they had to make the bed back up.

Foot tapping, putting pressure on my eyes, rocking back and forth in my chair, rocking my head back and forth, swaying, fiddling with my fingers... a lot of things really. I know I do more but they're not as common and I can't think of them on the top of my head, I bet there's more I'm not even aware of... Dunno if it counts but I also respond to people quietly as if I'm talking to them if attending a lecture - tends to annoy people a bit.

All I know is that when I was in the 2nd grade, I had a teacher who punished me for stimming, so it was probably more severe when I was a child. Most things I do now involve my hands as I twirl pens or click them on and off if they're that type.

Does shadowboxing everywhere count?

I ha dnow idea how much I stim until I was diagnosed. Now I realize how many and much. They seem to all be little things that I have adapted in order to survive like playing with shirt ends or sleeves, finger tapping, biting my inner lips, and the like. When I really let loose they get grander like wiggling my feet, scratching or rubbing my scalp, rubbing soft texture items on my upper lip, repeating phrases, humming.

I also talk to myself and sing along with what I'm doing. Not sure if I consider those stims or coping straregies.

All of these things seem to relieve anxiety and help me concentrate. But I don't just do them when I'm nervous. Sometimes I do them most when I am relaxing. Its as iff they help me unwind.

My stims: twirling string in front of my face (only in private nowadays), constant skin picking (really, really hoping to get rid of this one though), and verbal stimming (talking to myself, repeating rhymes and phrases I like, humming, singing - ,mostly in my room at home to block out other noise in the house). In public, my more acceptable stims include wiggling my foot, picking at/tearing objects like paper wrappers or erasers and pacing.

Soooo many stims! I rock, shake my legs, wiggle my toes, rub my hands together, bite my lips, pick at scabs or dry skin, play with my hair, bite at my nails, tap my fingers, "flap" my hands against my leg, sing or hum or talk to myself, pace around...

Right now I'm shaking my legs while rocking slightly.

I do a lot of stims, the most common (and one of the most annoying to my family) being pacing. I don't get why it bothers them so much. They say "Stop, it makes me nervous." I'm just walking around, why do they get nervous?