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Professional help to stop hand flapping

NAS61718

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has ever sought help for flapping their hands.

I have flapped my hands for as long as I remember and learned very early on to hide it. Being told you look stupid doing it does that to you. However, as i have gotten older and my life is more complex, house, job, family, I am finding it harder and harder to contain and hide. I am flapping more than I ever have done and it seems to be getting worse.

I frequently get bouts of RSI, I went to the doctor's for pain in my wrist the first time it happened and as soon as he told me it was RSI I knew why, but, I still continue to do it. Knowing what it is now I do not go back when it flares up.

Has anyone ever sought help, or have their own strategies, for reducing or stopping themselves from flapping?

My partner is very supportive and when she caught me doing it wasn't bothered and I now am able to flap in front of her when the compulsion arrives, however, has requested that I try not to do it in front  of the children for fear they may copy me and then get bullied. Although I understand I really wish it was as easy as just turning to do it.

Flapping also effects how long it takes my to do something as I feel the urge to do it pretty much all the time at home. I try to avoid doing it in public but this is getting her to do also.

Any advise would be greatly received

  • I would say embrace it - the more you try to stop it, the more you'll be stressed - so the more you will flap.    It's just part of who you are.    At least your stimming isn't self-destructive like skin scratching or hair pulling.     

    I have extremely sensitive skin so when I get stressed, it tingles exactly like rubbing my hands in stinging nettles - it's unbearable so I rub/scratch them until they bleed.     I can rub them together at just the right pressure to cause burns and blisters!      Of course, I regret doing it afterwards,       It's diagnosed as Dyshidrotic Eczema - really, really painful.

  • in reply to NAS61718

    I think my partner just hates me doing weird things that remind them of my autism. 

    I'm the same as you re.classes, I  have to exercise outdoors so I run. But I do some stretches and they feel good. 

  • in reply to Plectrum

    I get parts of a song stick in my head and I tend to whisper then over and over again as I'm flapping. 

    Does she hit your hand away because she doesn't like you doing it or because she doesn't want you to hurt yourself? My partner is understanding but does get ratty and pushy if she sees me do it in front of the children.

    I would find classes such as yoga boring,I hate the gym for the same reason. I'm too much of an active person to sit down and do yoga, but appreciate that it seems to help a lot of people.

    X

  • in reply to NAS61718

    My partner and family hate it. My partner even smacks my hand away sometimes. I try to do it secretly but I guess people just assume I'm weird and insecure.

    I flap as well, when I'm nervous, but I don't have a constant need to flap. My other really debilitating stims are musical ones, tunes going round in my head and little puffs in my breathing in time to the tune. Some of the tunes have been going for 20 years or more. 

    They are so constant that I sometimes have to pause what I'm doing or I miss what someone is saying.

    I guess the only thing I can do with hair pulling is replace it with another. I started pulling hair because I stopped biting my nails.

    Putting a bit of glue on my fingers and letting it dry and peel it off can help stop me for a few days, if I've pulled out too many eyelashes and there's a big gap.

    Regarding mindfulness, I guess yoga is a form of it. The physical exercises and calm breathing can help reduce tension.The stretches could even help with the urge to stim. I'm not keen on classes because I get annoyed by the other participants, but I know someone who finds it useful. 

  • in reply to Plectrum

    Wow, that must have been a rather painful stim. I'm lucky in the fact I just flap my hands with one in front of my eyes and the other near my ear. 

    I never really understood what mindfulness was.

    Do you stim in public? What reaction, if any, do you get? X

  • I have had some serious hair and eyelash pulling stimming problems and I've not found anything that helps except wearing gloves, then I just melt down after not being able to do it.  I'm supposed to do mindfulness but I'm a restless and busy person and there just seems to be a barrier even trying something like that.