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How do you feel when you keep yourself from stimming?

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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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06 Apr 2012, 7:55 pm

FishStickNick wrote:
. . . My cubicle is well stocked with stress balls, Lego minifigures, pens, stuffed critters, and other odds and ends to relieve the urge to pick up something and fiddle with it. My stim of choice is to bounce my legs and tap rhythmically; pacing and talking to myself are my go-to when I'm by myself. I find for me that chewing gum relieves some of the urge to stim in more apparent ways, especially when I'm stressed.

I think that's a pretty good plan, when at work or in a public place experiment with a variety of more discrete and quote-unquote socially acceptable :wink: forms of stimming.

In the olden days, some people carried "worry stones."



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06 Apr 2012, 8:52 pm

Matt62 wrote:
I can usually last for a few hours, but I start feeling "dis-jointed" after awhile. Definitely uncomfortable. Fortunately, I now mostly use rubber bands instead of flapping socks & strings around in the air.

Sincerely,
Matthew

Feeling "dis-jointed" when I put off stimming for too long is a pretty good description of some of my experience as well.



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06 Apr 2012, 10:07 pm

falonsayswoah wrote:
cmoonbeam1 wrote:
When I can't get away, I start feeling as though there are waves of energy coming into my body that need to be released


I get that feeling, too. My band played a show last Saturday night, and there were two bands that played after us. The first one was indie, and the second one was punk. My legs were bouncing and my hands were tapping/slapping my legs for both bands' sets. . . .

First off, congratulations on your band. That sounds really neat.

And then, performing live, a person conjures up, and draws forths, and builds up so much energy. And think this is one reason we get so many stories of musicians using drugs and staying up for hours on end. Much healthier, if you have a big house with a driveway far in, shoot some basketballs, alternate running into the house working on a creative project, watching some TV, shooting some more basketballs. Or, just speaking personally, I like bouncing between activities when I have a lot of energy built up. It may not be everyone's cup of tea.

And I think it's entirely okay to kind of dance in place. If you were with a couple of fellow band members or audience members who are also kind of dancing, it wouldn't stick out as much.