Stimming in the Mind?

Post Reply New Topic

If you can't stim for some reason, or if the urge isn't too strong in a given moment, do you do it in your head instead? I've caught myself imagining wiggling my feet sometimes, when I'm in a setting in which I'd be embarrassed to be seen doing it or when I'm simply very tired. Does anyone else do this?

I can't say that I do--I just stim, regardless of the setting, though I might try to stick to less obvious ones in some situations. (I stim almost continuously throughout the day.) I don't see why wiggling your feet is something you should be embarrassed about; it seems like a fairly unobtrusive stim.

I have a visual mental stim (I imagine things spinning, or movement) and sometimes I imagine banging my head against something (because if I actually do it it hurts), but usually I just actually stim.

yes, i do. i have constructed an entire 'fantom' body for this purpose, that allows me to go into extremes without anyone noticing it.
it can be, and usually is, stimming, but i can also use it to vent anger or other strong emotions.

Yes, I scream in my mind as loud as I want, and spin, and smash imaginary giant arms down like a gorilla, etc. But my body generally still moves.

I stim wherever i please. If someone doesn't like it, too bad, most likely i don't notice i am stimming anyway so its all good

I only stim mentally, usually comes in form of a verse of a song repeating over and over.
My foot bounces but I was told that is anxiety related but I think it could possibly be stimming, but not sure.

I almost constantly have a song in my head. I've had the same song running for about a week now. If I'm frustrated or upset, I will picture smashing or throwing something which provides some satisfaction without the damage.

I feel my thoughts - I guess that is stimming.

I have songs stuck in my head. More specifically, I have a few lines stuck in my head a lot, unless I happen to listening to music. I find it annoying, but listening to music is fun.

I'm really appreciating people's responses! Thanks!

Same here. I'll generally wake up with a song in my head. Sometimes it will stay for the entire day, but usually it will morph several times into other tunes. I generally go through a half dozen or so during the day.

But otherwise, I don't worry about stimming in public. I drum my fingers, I'll rock a little, I'll shake my leg, click retractable ink pens....I don't care. I never even knew it was a problem until I discovered I was ASpie a few months ago. And lots of people fidget and fiddle with stuff while waiting or sitting in public. Why should I suppress myself, especially since it soothes me?

I get songs in my head, sometimes stuck there, the way I think is common to NTs, and sometimes deliberately played by me, as a kind of stim.

I think I get uptight about visible, public stimming because I was given such a hard time about things I did as a child that were probably stims, even though nobody knew that's what they were. So, now I'm curious. I'd like to know how one's comfort level with public stimming might relate to when one was diagnosed (or began to suspect about it, if one has yet to be diagnosed) and whether or not one was given a hard time as a child (regardless of diagnosis). Comments?

I just found out recently I am Aspie... so I'm just now noticing things that would be considered stimming that I do. I always thought I was just fidgety, but I've realized it is a soothing exercise.

My most annoying one is making drum sounds with my mouth (not quite beat boxing but almost).

I also drum with my fingers on tables, bounce my leg when I'm sitting down, ring my hands, and in extremely nervous situations I rub and press my eyes.

I've never visualized myself doing them or did them in my head because I didn't know it was odd behavior.

I don't have any stim that I'm aware of, but the music in your head information is interesting. For years, I've thought it was a relatively unique trait I had. How detailed is it for you? I have entire albums worth of music stored in my head that I can recall every lyric, intonation, instrument separately with correct timing.
Though now I'm wondering if there could be a mental-only form of stimming. I can lose myself in full scenarios of battles and hypothetical conversations and situations.

No one really bothered me about sucking my thumb or playing with my (and other's) hair. I still do it to this day.