Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I wanted to ask about stimming. People talk about stimming being a good thing and something you can do to help regulate yourself. I stim when I'm stressed but it doesn't make me feel better, its just sort of a compulsion.
Is that what it's like for other autistic people?
Because I've been feeling really jealous that other autistic people talk about stimming as if it is this magical outlet that makes them feel amazing, but I started to wonder that maybe I misunderstood how stimming benefits people. Maybe it's not like how I imagine.
I pick my skin as a form of stimming. I find it satisfying to peel the skin off. It is not good but I cannot help it.
I'm the same, tends to make my fingers very sore too. I tend to start with the side of my thumbs and end up with them bleeding. If I start doing when at work and end up making a mess of them I go get a plaster and stick it round. Fiddling with that them becomes a thing but at least it's not doing any more damage.
I used to pick my lips to the point of bleeding. I started controlling this stim a bit to stop hurting myself.
To all of the above:
I have to keep everything on my body so neat because if there is like a bump, scab, or flake I will pick at it and then it's sore and I want to fuss with it even more. I cannot stop myself from tearing the inside of my mouth to shreds though. I guess because it's not visible my brain has less motivation not to do it since I can easily keep it a secret.
I never thought of any of that as stimming before. Certainly doesn't feel good.