Stimming: What are your most/least constructive Stims?

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I thought it might be interesting to hear from others, what they feel their most constructive and destructive stims are. Feel free to elaborate if you like, with more info on why you chose each answer, and ways of coping / replacing destructive stims.
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For me personally, my most destructive stim currently is most definitely my "Picking", mainly at my ears which have caused lots of scar tissue, infections, and small disfiguring of the soft tissue. Also includes my face/beard and other parts of the body, but ears being my main issue, followed closely by clenching my jaw / grinding my teeth . Both of these are not self harm, but are definitely a problem, and though I believe stimming in and of itself isn't bad, I do believe there are bad / destructive ones.

As for my most constructive / benign stimming behavior, I'd have to say restless leg / tapping against surfaces, and also pressure stims in a myriad of ways.

I've been trying to work on substituting more constructive stims for the ones that cause me distress or issues, but damn its hard =/. I used to crack my neck all the time, and it took me about 5 years to finally be able to kick that habit, but it was replaced unconciously immediately with the ear picking and jaw clenching /sigh.

But yeah, looking forward to hearing if anyone else is willing to contribute, and thanks in advance

-Mahlon

Least constructive - nail biting, not as bad as it used to be as I used to bite till my fingers bled, where as now I can get them quite long...yet to achieve a full set of long nails, almost did this over Easter holidays, but then I went back to college which is a major cause of stress

Most constructive - adjusting my clothing, in particular the supportive stuff I wear under my normal clothes to help with my sensory issues, this adjusting and straightening of my clothing is constant, but the advantage is that my clothes rarely ride-up or look untidy

Least constructive: Pacing, it bothers people.

Most constructive: Rubbing my chin. It reminds me when I need to shave.

Least constructive - Walking on tip-toes. It's bad for the tendons and causes them to be stiff and sore.

Most constructive - Running. It gets me to go outside and get some fresh air, and it's helping me with my weight loss.

Stimming is a repetitive MOTION, engaged in to alleviate stress. Its not a nervous habit. Rocking, swaying, hand flapping, pacing are stims. Hair twisting, nail biting, etc are not.

Wikipedia is only one source for information, but I would point out that the quote you give actually mentions 'stereotypy', under Wikipedia entry for Stereotypy it includes the following (under animals, but point remains);



Nail biting would come under self-mutilation, it's no different to picking at skin as a stim. I would argue that it's a behaviour engaged in to relieve stress (just because many people have it as a nervous habit doesn't mean it can't also be a stim), and it can be a repetitive motion too as a repetitive picking, biting or scraping the tip of the nail with teeth. Particularly it's a behaviour done to stimulate senses - taste and touch - in my case I bite my nails in place of tapping my fingers during time of stress, but it is primarily about oral stimulation...the same as during nail biting I will also tap my fingers upon my bottom lip, rub my fingers over my lips, or put my lips to the tip of the nail when they're long and cooler at the tips.

I don't think that any of my stims would fall into a destructive category.

However, the stim that I find most "troublesome", is when I'm standing in line, (I HATE waiting in line, it makes me very anxious), sometimes I will realize that I am twisting my upper body back and forth, kind of with my arms out a bit. Also, if I am sitting in a waiting room, I will swing my leg back and forth, under the chair and out. I can only do this if I am sitting with my other leg curled under me, and I have to swing it really fast or it doesn't feel right. It's not that it causes me problems, I just find that the actions attract unwelcome attention.

My constructive stim is crocheting. Not much else to say about that. LOL.

I don't know if I ever rock back and forth but I do know that I will shake my legs when I get nervous or bored. I also tend to rub metal objects on my face.

My most destructive stim is chewing on things. Pens, erasers, metal, plastic, keys.

Thanks all for the responses, I find just thinking and putting my thoughts into words when posting / replying helps me realize things about myself and behaviors that I might not otherwise have, especially in conjunction with reading other peoples ideas, thoughts, and opinions.

Seems I have more problematic stims than most people, and I have been trying so hard lately to change to more constructive ones, not picking so much (but still happens when i'm totally zoned, or upset) but man my typewriter leg hasn't been this bad since i was 7-8 years old lol.

Oh well, and thanks again

They can be. People can do different things for the same reasons, and the same things for different reasons.

I'm also trying to stop picking at myself. I do it less frequently now than I used to.

good: rocking, fidget toys

BAD: haed banging normaly into hard objects, useing my TENS unit to shock the liveing dyalights out of myself till im numb

Various sorts of self-injury, yeah... But I wouldn't call them particularly dangerous. I haven't engaged in any head-banging since I was in my early teens. They are all superficial injuries and have never caused infection because I know to keep them clean and use antibiotic ointment on them.

Constructive? Lots of stuff. Rocking, bouncing, tapping fingers, arranging patterns from tiles or bricks in my visual field, doodling on paper, rubbing things, turning shiny things over in my fingers... you know, the usual stuff. All of those things help me think. Self-injury does have the benefit of forcing me to handle stress better for a short period of time, but I think we all know that this is temporary and not a particularly good coping strategy

Most constructive: Tapping tables constantly & fot tapping.
Least Constructive: Rocking constantly, clapping & simply playing with my hands.

Most Constructive:
-Finger spelling. I picked up the habit of using it to be able to spell orally from a friend, and it ended up turning into a stim that both lets me process thoughts into words far easier as well as lets people see what I'm likely to be saying soon if they realize what's going on.
-Rocking, stereotypical, but if I'm stressed enough its by far the most effective to keep me from completely freaking out if I'm on my own.

Least Constructive:
Flattening out silly putty with my thumb. While this is effective in the situations I find myself doing it, it usually leads to wrist pain noticeably before I stop...

Since this thread is still alive and kicking, figured I'd update...

Most Constructive:
-Fiddling with my hands or fingers, typewriter leg (tend to do it mainly when alone only), mental stimming (zoning out lost in my thoughts, again another alone one). And sadly I'm still lacking in many more than that. I guess I could put sleep in here as well, since taking naps has helped stop me from clenching my jaw (yay!). Mild rocking help as well.

Least Constructive:
-Still picking, dammit lol. Cracking my knuckles, and neck. Smoking (in my way of thinking it counts), and biting on my lips.

Need to put aside some money / time to buy and make some hand stims to carry around with me again. as a kid and teenager I constantly had Fiddle toys to keep me occupied. Also useful to have paper to doodle.