Deep Pressure

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Hi, is there any way to apply deep pressure on ourselves without using eg. the deep pressure machine or asking someone to hug.
Is there also any tips to stim "discreetly".
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Laying heavy blankets on top sometimes works. So does squeezing in between or underneath couch cushions. Having someone sit on top of you when you're under the cushions is pretty great. If you can get someone to hug you, I tend to feel more receptive to it after the first squeeze because then I don't mind being so close to the person anymore. Another way that works for me is to get really heavy textbooks, lay on my stomach, and place a few (to the best of my ability) on my back. Just the feel of the weight is nice.

As far as steath stimming, I usually bite the insides of my mouth or push my cuticles back over and over again. I'll also run corners of paper from magazines and books underneath my nails. Try using a stress ball and squeeze it when it's time to stim. Or rub it, whatever.

i have found lately that i wear a tight fitting badseball cap, the deep presssure around my head gives a lot of re-assurance.....
i run my fingers together and flex my pectoral muscles as a stealth stim.

rub button edges on your cuticles.

i curl myself up into a ball when sitting. i also have a pellow or somthing i hug very tightly. i find people are better but a lot harder to hold down


stimming descretely? i am not sure exactly what you mean... i bite my lip or rub my tounge back and forth along my teeth

Hahaha... I do this too (the whole curling into a ball and hugging things).

I sleep face down so there is more pressure on my front side. heavy blankets are nice too.

I stim in public by balling my fists with my thumbs in the middle and pull on my thumbs with my fists. I do it in my pockets sometimes.

Thanks for all your advice!

That makes something I recall as a child make a lot of sense. I adored being tucked in by my mother because she tucked me in really tightly and I dodn't know why but I LOVED this. It was especially lovely in Winter when we had a sheet and about four heavy army blankets on our bed. My feet were cold on the worst nights, but I felt so secure, or "tucked in with love" as i used to call it.

That all stopped when we got duvets, and ever since, I have not slept well.

Julie

yes same here, i used to love being tucked in under several heavy blankets and for a while i had heavy blankets and a heavy duvet too, that was perfect now i just have two duvets, but it's not the same as being tucked in and it's really awkward in the summer, it's too hot under both of them, but i can't sleep under just one

it's similar with clothes, i used to be very underweight (sort-of had an eating disorder), so i'd wear about 5 layers of clothes, usually including a tight t-shirt and heavy jumpers. even in summer i wouldn't get too hot. it was lovely, i felt safe and secure, and it did wonders for my sensory issues.

since then i've 'recovered' and put on weight, but now i can't wear more than 1 or 2 layers of clothing even in winter! so i'm always stressy and tense when i'm out, especially if someone accidentally bumps into me, because i don't have my layers of 'armour' on to protect me

It all makes sense now! Don't really have time to elucidate, but thanks guys!

I sometimes wonder if I could make a crude hug machine out of a door that opens towards a wall. You can get behind the door and just pull on it, this is pretty good. But I reckon it would be better if I rigged two air mattresses (I've got a lot of camping gear) - one on the door and one on the wall, and a pulley and rope to help pull the door closed, this would be excellent. Hmm. Except you'd have to stay standing up.

As for stimming. I like to jiggle my leg - so long as I don't jiggle the floor and tables and stuff, this is ok if your leg is hidden from view. I also like to swivel the chair. Though this is more obvious, you can get away with it if you make little swings not big ones.

I'm thinking if my usual trick in meetings - taking lots of notes, or drawing pictures is a way of deflecting the stimming. I also used to practice bagpipe music fingering on a pen. still do that sometimes. Not sure how weird it looks.

That would be pretty cool. If you could rig the air mattresses somehow to inflate and deflate (not all the way, of course), then you could simulate my favorite kind of deep pressure: pressure. release. pressure. release. Or you could just use the pulley. Standing up wouldn't be that much of an issue for me.


It's good you're aware of the shaking effects a jiggly leg can cause. If someone I know is performing a leg jiggle and I can feel the vibrations on a table or something, I'll grab their leg and tell them to stop. If they do it the descrete way, I don't mind.


I do the notes and pictures during meetings. I've been trying to hold back on the pictures though. I think it would look unprofessional (although I see others doing it too). When I was playing cello regularly, I used to practice fingerings on my pen and sometimes on my right forearm. It probably doesn't look too weird.

Bagpipes are cool. Aren't they loud to you when you play them or do you get used to the volume?

Sundy, you do the cuticle thing too? I've never heard of anyone else having that particular stim, but I've done it for as long as I can remember. I also grind my teeth--more pressure--and instead of using a lot of heavy blankets to get to sleep, because I'd get hot, I wrap myself up as tight as I can in my blanket, which is semi-heavy. The tightness almost makes up for the lack of weight.

My other stims include wiggling my fingers (which my mom gets upset about), jiggling my leg (again, if no one can see it), and twitching my ears back and forth to get the neat ringing sound.

The whole bagpipe thing is incredibly loud, although nothing like as loud as a rock concert. I don't know why it didn't bother me. Other noises not anything like so loud bother me intensely.

The practice device is called a "chanter" and it's about the same size as a recorder (woodwind instrument) and relatively quiet, actually quieter than the recorder.

But the thing about bagpipes, is you've got to keep the bag moist and supple, and all the pipe hemp lined connectors moist, and the best way of doing that is to blow in it every day ie practice. And I wasn't very good at doing that either.

So I don't play any more. A mixed blessing I suppose.

When I sleep, I have to use a heavy blanket. I usually use two blankets, and I am quite particular about the material. I don't like fabrics that feel irritating to my fingers and toes. I like smooth fabrics for sleeping, otherwise it gets annoying.

As far as deep pressure, though ... I don't know. I have expressed an interest in light sensations, but I tend to need at least some pressure over my body to sleep. It relieves anxiety and helps me fall asleep, where I'd otherwise be prone to insomnia. I can not sleep without blankets. Well, I can, but I have to be relaxed and extremely tired.

- Ray M -