Stimming at Work

[Nightingale121]

I worked from home for a while due to the pandemic. This time was rather relaxing for me.
This had a positive effect on a bad stimming habit of mine, namely biting and picking my nails and the skin of my fingers around the nails.

I've had this habit since childhood. It happens sometimes more, sometimes less (un)conscious. Depending on my general mood or specific situations it is more or less intense.

After quite a while at home my fingers looked better and were more healed than they had been for years. I still picked on them occasionally, but not much.
Additionally, I got into experimenting with stim toys during work because I didn't have to worry about anyone noticing anything. This way I figured out that chewelry/chewable pendants helped with this issue even more.

Now I'm back at the office and things went downhill quickly. My fingers look much worse again. So I thought about bringing a pendant to work to compensate and cope with the additional stress.
However, I'm worried that it wouldn't be accepted and/or would be seen as weird. I usually share the office room with another person. Also, other colleagues come in occassionally to discuss things etc. Therefore, I'm not alone and unobserved all the time.

Does anyone here have experience with using chewable pendants (or other less subtle stim toys) at work?
Did you get any comments about them?
Did you explain what they're for? How?

Also, for context: Mentioning autism in a potential explanation is not an option for me.

 

[Kalinychta]

Can you just pretend you’re chewing gum?

 

[Aspychata]

Maybe coming up with some type of an excuse like l grind my teeth without thinking, now it's a bad habit and the dentist said to try this to see if l can retrain my brain. It's a nonsensical answer but who argues with dentist's advice?

 

[Au Naturel]

Maybe coming up with some type of an excuse like l grind my teeth without thinking, now it's a bad habit and the dentist said to try this to see if l can retrain my brain. It's a nonsensical answer but who argues with dentist's advice?

I worked from home for a while due to the pandemic. This time was rather relaxing for me.
This had a positive effect on a bad stimming habit of mine, namely biting and picking my nails and the skin of my fingers around the nails.

I've had this habit since childhood. It happens sometimes more, sometimes less (un)conscious. Depending on my general mood or specific situations it is more or less intense.

After quite a while at home my fingers looked better and were more healed than they had been for years. I still picked on them occasionally, but not much.
Additionally, I got into experimenting with stim toys during work because I didn't have to worry about anyone noticing anything. This way I figured out that chewelry/chewable pendants helped with this issue even more.

Now I'm back at the office and things went downhill quickly. My fingers look much worse again. So I thought about bringing a pendant to work to compensate and cope with the additional stress.
However, I'm worried that it wouldn't be accepted and/or would be seen as weird. I usually share the office room with another person. Also, other colleagues come in occassionally to discuss things etc. Therefore, I'm not alone and unobserved all the time.

Does anyone here have experience with using chewable pendants (or other less subtle stim toys) at work?
Did you get any comments about them?
Did you explain what they're for? How?

Also, for context: Mentioning autism in a potential explanation is not an option for me.

You can learn to substitute an inconspicuous or not harmful stim for one that is causing problems. Try tapping your toes to imaginary music. Not easily noticed, doesn't cause damage to anything and you can not do it when someone is looking.

 

[Aspychata]

I worked from home for a while due to the pandemic. This time was rather relaxing for me.
This had a positive effect on a bad stimming habit of mine, namely biting and picking my nails and the skin of my fingers around the nails.

I've had this habit since childhood. It happens sometimes more, sometimes less (un)conscious. Depending on my general mood or specific situations it is more or less intense.

After quite a while at home my fingers looked better and were more healed than they had been for years. I still picked on them occasionally, but not much.
Additionally, I got into experimenting with stim toys during work because I didn't have to worry about anyone noticing anything. This way I figured out that chewelry/chewable pendants helped with this issue even more.

Now I'm back at the office and things went downhill quickly. My fingers look much worse again. So I thought about bringing a pendant to work to compensate and cope with the additional stress.
However, I'm worried that it wouldn't be accepted and/or would be seen as weird. I usually share the office room with another person. Also, other colleagues come in occassionally to discuss things etc. Therefore, I'm not alone and unobserved all the time.

Does anyone here have experience with using chewable pendants (or other less subtle stim toys) at work?
Did you get any comments about them?
Did you explain what they're for? How?

Also, for context: Mentioning autism in a potential explanation is not an option for me.

My mouth stim- chewing sugarless gum. It really helps. You can talk with it. Just don't chew in front of co-workers as you talk to them. I have chewed gum where it isn't allowed but l doubt any head shrink is going to write me a letter saying she needs gum or she may spin out the door like a little spinning toy.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

picking my nails and the skin of my fingers around the nails.

That's my stimming thing, as well.

I have to keep my nails and cuticles well trimmed,...or else. Any little rough skin around the nail, and I am picking at it,...embarrassing at times.

 

[Pieceofmind]

I stim at work too and often I'm very uncomfortable there cause the temperature in the place is always weird. I end up bouncing on the heels of my feet a lot and finger drumming to the music all the time. Those are my main stims, they help me maintain my body stability somehow in an environment where the ambient temperature is really messing with my neurological system. Some days I stim more than others, I stim less when I'm more comfortable.

 

[Nightingale121]

Can you just pretend you’re chewing gum?

I guess that doesn't work when the stim toy is visible. I mean, I don't put the whole thing in my mouth in a way that makes it possible to pretend that it's just gum.

Maybe coming up with some type of an excuse like l grind my teeth without thinking, now it's a bad habit and the dentist said to try this to see if l can retrain my brain. It's a nonsensical answer but who argues with dentist's advice?

I had thought about coming up with an excuse. It might work although I often worry people might find out that an excuse like this is nonsensical or not true.

You can learn to substitute an inconspicuous or not harmful stim for one that is causing problems. Try tapping your toes to imaginary music. Not easily noticed, doesn't cause damage to anything and you can not do it when someone is looking.

Chewing on a pendant is my attempt to substitute the harmful stim of skin picking.
For me personally the substitute stim should be somewhat close to the one it substitutes in order to satisfy a similar need. For example, chewing on a pendant is similar enough to chewing on my nails and it also keeps both my hand and mouth busy. However, tapping my toes would be too different, I guess. The idea of finding subsitute stims is good in general though.

My mouth stim- chewing sugarless gum.

I tried gum before and it kind of works, but I'd need a lot of gum and thought pendants could be a somewhat more sustainable and - in the long term - less expensive alternative. If I don't find another solution, I could try it again though and just limit the amount of gum per week or something like this.