Mental Stimming

[Butterfly88]

I've seen a few posts here over the last few days about mental stimming. I know about regular stimming but I've never heard of mental stimming. Could someone please explain?

 

[tree]

That particular phrase was new to me, too.

"Mental stimming is a type of stimming that occurs in your head. It is a subset of daydreaming that is more focused and repetitive, like any stim. A lot of autistic people mental stim and it can be very useful in situations where you don’t need to concentrate on the outside world."

mental stimming

The brief article goes on to describe some mental stim possibilities, including:
songs, movies, tv shows, everyday scenes,foods & beverages, textures,
poetry and other written content etc as subject matter for "mental stimming."

TLDR:
"...if you can stim with all your other senses, you can stim with your mind as well. Get creative with it and invent many daydreaming patterns that work best for you."

 

[Butterfly88]

Thank you @tree!
I commonly have people in my head that talk to me in my mind but I'm told I'm not psychotic so I'm wondering if it could be a mental stim.

 

[WereBear]

I do imagination things like that all the time.

 

[OkRad]

To me, this is mental stimming: I memorize long poems and it is something the brain does that I make it do that it does not natually do. Or at least what NTs don't do.

Think of a finger stim, you might flap a finger or pull it or do something it does not naturally do (in the NT world, anyway-----all this "normal" talk is strictly based on NT world and how they dx us).

So a mental stim is the same. To me, it would not be daydreaming or tlaking in head because that is kinda natural and NTs do it, too. I am doing it now.

But when my brain wants to do something NTs can't do and it would exhaust them (like flapping hands would, for example), then it's a stim to me.

So when I am about up to line 250 in a long poem of another language, and I have to do it, and want to do it and need to do and find relief in doing it.....THAT is my mental stim!

Just my two cents!!

 

[Streetwise]

Thank you @tree!
I commonly have people in my head that talk to me in my mind but I'm told I'm not psychotic so I'm wondering if it could be a mental stim.

The doctor at the emergency room (casualty)said it wasn't schizophrenia with me,I think it's because my mind is disordered so I hear my thoughts at unexpected times.

 

[Butterfly88]

Thank you @OkRad and @Streetwise!

 

[BK201]

I verbal stim a lot. I repeat mostly random words over and over; I also quote from the movies - not memorable quotes but random ones, things anyone could have come up with except I know who said them and what movie they're from.
I wonder if I could get creative with stimming. Currently, I don't have much control over it, I mean, I don't specifically call forth the quotes/words, they just pop up. That also goes for rocking and playing with my hair. It's not equally pleasing when I "decide" to do it.

 

[Butterfly88]

I verbal stim a lot. I repeat mostly random words over and over; I also quote from the movies - not memorable quotes but random ones, things anyone could have come up with except I know who said them and what movie they're from.
I wonder if I could get creative with stimming. Currently, I don't have much control over it, I mean, I don't specifically call forth the quotes/words, they just pop up. That also goes for rocking and playing with my hair. It's not equally pleasing when I "decide" to do it.

That almost sounds more like a tic to me.

 

[Bolletje]

When I'm upset I tend to hold monologues in my head, mostly aimed at the person that's causing me stress. I'm often quite rude in my head, I also have the snappiest one-liners. When I'm really emotional I have to focus on keeping the monologue quiet, otherwise I'll end up mouthing the words or muttering under my breath, and that just makes me look like a crazy person. Which I am, but fun crazy, not Gollum crazy.

 

[Butterfly88]

When I'm upset I tend to hold monologues in my head, mostly aimed at the person that's causing me stress. I'm often quite rude in my head, I also have the snappiest one-liners. When I'm really emotional I have to focus on keeping the monologue quiet, otherwise I'll end up mouthing the words or muttering under my breath, and that just makes me look like a crazy person. Which I am, but fun crazy, not Gollum crazy.

I do that too, but sometimes it's something more for me, such as I feel the person's presence on my back or it feels a tad more real but not to the point I think they are really there.

 

[Major Tom]

I stim in my mind all the time, for me it includes rehearsing of music, counting objects in the room, memorizing small details of things, and Having conversations that will probably never take place in the first place. I usually do it where it is unacceptable to stim in a normal fasion , like when I am working, or in crowded parties.

 

[Butterfly88]

Thank you for the reply @Major420.

 

[pjcnet]

In that case I already mental stim, I'm often repeating in my head and it often causes me to disconnect with the outside world, sometimes for ages.

 

[Butterfly88]

It seems you aren't the only one here who does @pjcnet, maybe you can find some comfort in that.

 

[Homebrand]

I often think of something I want to say, often a conversation I want to have with someone, but the whole conversation or several lines I want to express will get stuck on a loop in my head and I swear it drives me batty sometimes.

Its the worst when I feel an urgency to talk about something with someone but don't get the chance. I can get conversations stuck in my head that come and go for weeks, but its is the way my brain repeats it all over and over on a loop that does my own head in.

 

[SplendidSnail]

That particular phrase was new to me, too.

"Mental stimming is a type of stimming that occurs in your head. It is a subset of daydreaming that is more focused and repetitive, like any stim. A lot of autistic people mental stim and it can be very useful in situations where you don’t need to concentrate on the outside world."

mental stimming

I've actually heard of some forms of meditation as being very similar to what's in the article, so I don't think this is limited to people with ASD. I think NTs can use these techniques as well to calm down when agitated etc.

 

[Jerri]

In that case I already mental stim, I'm often repeating in my head and it often causes me to disconnect with the outside world, sometimes for ages.

Hi...I’m new to the forum and just saw this post. That’s exactly what I’m trying to get at! The disconnection part. Trying to get my handle changed...anonymity reasons, but once it is, would you mind terribly reading a crazy family theory of mine? I think you might understand what it’s trying to communicate. Thx...but no pressure at all.

 

[pjcnet]

Hi...I’m new to the forum and just saw this post. That’s exactly what I’m trying to get at! The disconnection part. Trying to get my handle changed...anonymity reasons, but once it is, would you mind terribly reading a crazy family theory of mine? I think you might understand what it’s trying to communicate. Thx...but no pressure at all.

Of course, PM me if you want, in case you don't know you click on "Inbox" towards the top right corner of the site to the left of "Alerts" and then click "Start a New Conversation". To change your handle here it's best to ask a staff member by starting a conversation because as I found out once, the "Contact Us" form doesn't reach the local staff on this site like @tree for instance, but she will most likely see this now anyway.

 

[Dwoops]

I’m not sure if this would be considered a mental stim, but I find that I tend to repeatedly plan the same thing over again. Like in the shower I tend to list everything I need to get done for that day over and over in my head because it helps me focus, not because I need to remember it. I also tend to repeatedly envision a scenario and run many different possible outcomes in my head, though this I think is more akin to daydreaming for me as I tend to do it when I lost focus on something. Happens a lot during class unfortunately.