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what is your stim?

I couldn't find a thread about childhood stimming, so I'm posting here.
My son has a new habit: tearing papers and making little... not sure how to describe them... paper toy to fidget with, sort of like a little flag. I try to explain to him that not all the papers can be torn, some papers are important to other people. I think he gets it, but sometimes just can't help himself.

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At 1st it was a little frustrated but then I remembered. When I was a kid I had a metal lamp, sometimes I would take some play-dough, wait until the lam becomes hot and melt play-dough on it. My parents told me many times to stop doing it. but I just couldn't help myself. Eventually they gave up. I stopped melting the play-dough eventually, because I felt it's not a very good habit and that I ended up ruining the lamp. It happened when I was already a teenager :)
 
I have all the 'classic' ones, I've realized. I'm not very aware of doing them most of the time and have always had the sense that others must not see. My go-to is rocking, but if I can't sit down, then pacing, hand flapping, and occasionally spinning.

In public if I'm really stressed out, I hug myself tightly to stop rocking and if that doesn't work, dig my nails into my fingers of the other hand.

I think for more 'low level'/concentration stims in public (if that's a thing?), I just fidget with jewelery or bounce my leg and such. Didn't think it was a big deal but a coworker did ask me to stop once. Sigh.

I also 'play piano' by pressing my fingers on surfaces as I repeat the tune in my head. Have done that since elementary school.

Oh, and sometimes if I'm concentrating hard on something stressful or embarrassing like replaying a painful experience in my head, I will just blurt out random phrases. I think it's more for the sound or feeling associated with it than the meaning. Wouldn't have thought of it as a stim except others have mentioned it.
 
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My stims are pretty much anything I can do with my hands....they (my stims) usually appear when I'm nervous, and when I have something in my hands to fool around with or hold onto (like a Tangle toy or stuffed animal) it helps divert me from more self-destructive stims (like biting and picking at my fingernails). I also have a chewable pendant from the Stimtastic.co website that I wear around my neck...it gives me something to chew on when I'm nervous, too. :)
 
When I was younger, it was clearing my throat. In the car I would push my tongue onto my teeth on the side of my mouth in which whatever upcoming road led to. Nowadays I have a mild form of trichotillomania which is pulling apart my split hairs, as I have very long hair.
 
I have a lot of stims, so here is a compilation of things I do. (By the way, is it normal to have this many? I never realized how many I do on a day-to-day basis until I've started paying attention to them)

In Private:
-Jump or dance around the house
-Make a ton of weird, loud noises
-Rock back and forth (I've only noticed this while watching TV, though)
-Sing quietly
-Talk to myself

In Public:
-Grab my face with my hands, and squeeze it
-Tap my fingers, or move them like a conductor
-Pick at my fingers
-Bite my lip
 
JDartistic said:
Does anyone else have Maladaptive Daydreaming as a stim? When I'm stressed, I average 2-4 hours a day...
Click to expand...

Maladaptive Daydreaming — What Is It?
I can certainly relate to this.. just after I had my breakdown I would find myself losing time thinking about something, or a conversation with someone.. now I allow 2 hours an evening, 2-3 nights a week, to post process the last few days, mixed in with daydreaming and thinking.. yet sometimes 3-4 hours go by without my awareness.
The symptoms in the above article seem veeery familiar..:eek:
 
Spiller said:
Maladaptive Daydreaming — What Is It?
I can certainly relate to this.. just after I had my breakdown I would find myself losing time thinking about something, or a conversation with someone.. now I allow 2 hours an evening, 2-3 nights a week, to post process the last few days, mixed in with daydreaming and thinking.. yet sometimes 3-4 hours go by without my awareness.
The symptoms in the above article seem veeery familiar..:eek:
Click to expand...

Maladaptive Daydreaming is when you day dream too much. There's not a lot of study on it but there have been some articles published. They believe it is common among autistics/Aspies.

Ever since I was a kid, I would lay down & listen to music & rock & day dream, sometimes up to 8 hours a day. As I got older, I had to limit it to 1-2 hours a day. I tried eliminating it completely but get nightmares & become irritable so I allow it. Then I realized it was my major stim! When I'm overwhelmed, I have to day dream.

It's a weird stim that folks don't understand & can be destructive as you dream your life away instead of doing stuff. I've learned to live with it. I need it to process my stress & get calm.

Would love to know how others handle it. I actually plan it in my day & when I'm dating, I hide it & say that I'm meditating but I'm really daydreaming!
 
having a stim makes me feel awful, it makes me feel like I should die, and I should. me dying IS FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS. i die for others.. autism i have autism
 
I have maladaptive daydreaming too. Always have since I was a child . Music and daydreaming are ways I cope when I am overwhelmed by anxiety and depression. I can not control it though and sometimes as I am trying to do everyday things I get distracted and can not concentrate because a part of my mind just wants to escape my real life and hide somewhere safe in another world where I control the circumstances and it is safe this is usually when I am feeling hopeless and no way out or any solution.
 
Other stims I have are talking to myself when angry, covering my face when feeling vulnerable, picking my cuticles apart when anxious, clapping my hands when happy or excited, rocking twisting one leg. Mainly though covering my face, my head, hiding my eyes particularily, I feel safer with sunglasses, if no sunglasses I look down at the ground and or cover my eyes with my hands.burying my head
 
Lola_Daydream said:
I have maladaptive daydreaming too. Always have since I was a child . Music and daydreaming are ways I cope when I am overwhelmed by anxiety and depression. I can not control it though and sometimes as I am trying to do everyday things I get distracted and can not concentrate because a part of my mind just wants to escape my real life and hide somewhere safe in another world where I control the circumstances and it is safe this is usually when I am feeling hopeless and no way out or any solution.
Click to expand...

I do that, too. I call it "conscious daydreaming." It's really hard sometimes to control. I also act out the dream in real-life sometimes. Like I catch myself talking out loud what I'm dreaming about. It's kind of scary, but luckily I'm older and have learned that it's okay and I can control it when I focus my mind onto something else. I always know I'm just daydreaming, but it can get intense when I'm really stressed out.
 
Staring at pictures. Wrist twisting. Rubbing fabric between my fingers. I used to ride my bike around the block for hours every day for a year. It was very repetitive. Taking my pen or pencil apart and putting it back together. Whenever sitting still feels like torture, my hands can't stop moving. I got chewed out for spinning in my chair in a meeting once. I was proud of myself for a while, since my only other option was leaving the room, I thought spinning in my chair was a great solution.
 
When I'm nervous: bouncing my leg, bounce my foot, tap with fingers, chew on my cheeks

When I'm focused: swaying side to side, back and forth

Neutral: cracking joints
 
JDartistic said:
I do that, too. I call it "conscious daydreaming." It's really hard sometimes to control. I also act out the dream in real-life sometimes. Like I catch myself talking out loud what I'm dreaming about. It's kind of scary, but luckily I'm older and have learned that it's okay and I can control it when I focus my mind onto something else. I always know I'm just daydreaming, but it can get intense when I'm really stressed out.
Click to expand...


I never met anyone else who did that too I think your awesome, and glad to meet you! So do you use this imagination for artistic purposes, like writing, music, painting , filming?

When I was little I was extremely Terrible about acting out my day dreams in real life. I use to actually take on the identity or personality of whatever pop super star I was wishing I was like. I think one of them was Tiffany, cuz yes I grew up in the 80's.lol. I would literally walk around thinking I was her, and seeing the world as she does.
I never thought this behaviour was odd, because I was an only child and I didn't have any friends because we moved a lot. I just thought I was bored and entertaining myself lol.
 
Lola, it's so good to see someone else experience this. You are awesome, too!

Yes, I am an artist (paint & write bad poetry). Some peeps with Maladaptive Daydreaming get into fiction but I never had the patience for stories. I also have ADHD so I'm an impulsive type.

Do you write or do art? One advantage I read about MD is that we are Futuristic. I read that in Strengths 2.0. We are able to see the future cuz we can dream about possibilities. Many are inventors or even stock brokers. Try predicting stuff. Bet ur good at it! (I trade stocks sometimes & mostly do well so I'm trying to learn more & home that skill in.) many opportunities for us daydreamers!
 
I can not say I am good at predicting anything really. Actually I think I kinda suck at that lol, I am always wrong at what I think is true and end up being told that my assumptions are out in left field.
I am a fiction writer though. I love to write.
 
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