Bad habits that change?

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I don't know if they are called tics or stims so I call them bad habits. The strange thing is that I do them without thinking, but I can replace them. For example years ago I would scratch my arm when remembering something disgusting (a mistake I committed in the past or when imagining a bad scenario). To stop hurting myself I replaced it by stretching the tongue but it was so noticeable, then it changed into saying things automatically ( I would say "NO!" or "STOP" or "LET ME GO") but it was noticeable too, now I'm switching to snarling (with the tongue inside the mouth). Does someone relate to this?

Kind of, as a kid I use to finger flap and it drove my mother nuts!
So I stopped, but I needed a stim, it helped my stay calm in situations that I found stressful, or I did it just to calm my mind.

So I switched to a leg bounce, and have done it for decades, and it drives my wife nuts, but she know better than to make me change and will just bring it to my attention if it is really bothering her.

Ahh, the ol' leg bounce. That's pretty much the only thing I'll do around others anymore. I've got a list of different stims, but I've cut them out in public as other people have made me aware that they notice and think it's weird. Nobody mentions the leg bounce, though. When I'm alone I still rub my hands together (like if it were cold out and you were trying to warm up) when I get excited or anxious, or flap my hands in a way that if my fingers are limp my ring finger will smack against my thumb (something about how my ring finger hits my thumb on my left hand just please me), or drum on stuff.

Yes I can relate and I often wonder if I am actually stimming or if it's a habit. I can't really tell between the two. So I always wonder why not replace your bad stims with good ones that won't bother people or harm yourself?

Bad habits are very strange things. It really does interest how we find ourselves doing them without actually remembering when we started. I had this odd habit of sucking and chewing on the collar of my t-shirts, of course ruining them, which displeased my mum