When you hear the word “stimming,” what comes to mind? Do you envision a person rocking back and forth in a rhythmic manner, somebody bouncing/jumping in place, or a child whose hands are flapping as they look at something with pure joy? All of these, and many more, are examples of self-stimulating, or stimming, behaviors that are often associated with diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD since they are part of the diagnostic criteria for them. However, what is often overlooked is that stimming behaviors such as these are not unique to people with one or both of the diagnoses listed above, but rather, stimming behaviors are present in everybody’s life. Think about times you’ve found yourself performing an action without even realizing you were still doing it. Things such as clicking/tapping a pen, twirling your hair, swaying side to side while standing, and other actions that are performed by people every day are also stimming behaviors.
When thought about from this viewpoint, it can raise questions about what purpose these actions possess in our lives. The answer to that question is both very simple and very complex. These actions help a person to regulate one or more aspects of themselves, such as their senses, thoughts, and/or emotions. From a surface-level perspective, this answer provides a brief overview of what the goal of these stimming behaviors is intended to do and helps to explain why the number of different stimming behaviors is so expansive. However, deeper layers must be explored to truly uncover what these actions can and do to help people in different aspects of their lives and why they might be displaying these stimming behaviors.
Taking a deeper dive into the aspects mentioned above, stimming behaviors can help people when they are experiencing either a deficit or are overwhelmed when it comes to their sensory intake and stimulation. During times of sensory deficit, stimming behaviors serve the purpose of providing sensory input a person may desire to help themselves feel good. Enjoying certain textures, tastes, smells, sights, and/or sounds that can be created or mimicked by these stimming behaviors can greatly aid a person in getting the input they need. Conversely, during times of overstimulation, stimming behaviors have been observed to assist people with managing this feeling of being overwhelmed without shutting down or exploding to get this sensation to go away. These stimming behaviors also give the person a sense of control in situations where they are overwhelmed by the bombardment of sensations they are experiencing simultaneously. Taking control over these repetitive movements on a subconscious level helps to ground the person. It gives their senses and their brains a controlled and predictable stimulus to focus on rather than the unpredictable and overwhelming sensations they were experiencing previously.
Stimming behaviors can also be present when a person is experiencing intense, racing, and/or overwhelming thoughts they are finding difficult to manage and control. These thoughts could result from new opportunities and experiences, upcoming transitions, perceived doubt, and/or having too many thoughts on one’s mind. Typically, these types of thought are accompanied with equally intense and overwhelming emotions that can be hard for people to handle. Emotions such as excitement about these new opportunities and experiences, anger or frustration about the upcoming transitions, fear about the perceived doubt, and anxiety from the many thoughts going through their mind simultaneously. Stimming behaviors have been shown to aid a person in calming and managing these intense emotional reactions, whether they are positive or negative emotions, by giving them that sense of control and helping to shift some of the focus away from what was causing them to experience the intense emotion(s).
Whatever the reason for the presence of the stimming behavior in a situation or circumstance, what should be remembered above all else is that this is the person’s way of coping, managing, and/or taking control of one or more of these aspects of their life and they should not be shamed for it.