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lola2136
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02 Nov 2011, 4:06 pm

Well, I wanted to share this situation.In my previous posts I have written that I suffered anxiety and panic attacks.I have anxiety since I was 11 years old.The last three days, I didn´t feel anxious but I began stimming when I was in public.I always tried to control it, but I discovered that trying to control them was causing my anxiety.Can it be possible?or I am wrong?



Joe90
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02 Nov 2011, 4:56 pm

I'm not sure. I have an anxiety disorder and I get panic attacks, and I am easily overwhelmed. But I've never really stimmed, so not stimming out in public doesn't make any difference, because I don't stim anyway. The only ''stimming'' I sort of do (not sure if it is classed as stimming or not) is I skip from my bedroom to another room, excitedly shouting out the names of the people I am obsessed with. But I don't have the urge to do this when out in the garden, at other people's houses, or out in public (or if other people are in the house). And doing it doesn't calm my anxiety nerves anyway. It is just a silly habit I do when indoors.

But anyway, back to the point, not quite sure if it is what causes the anxiety or not. I know I will get more anxious if I did do a stim of some sort when out in public because people will be looking at me...more so, and people looking at me makes me terribly anxious, to the point of crying. So...I guess we've got 2 different problems here but both roughly related to the same thing. :)


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Ganondox
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02 Nov 2011, 4:58 pm

I think the reverse is true for me: if I'm extremely anxious I'm more likely to do things that qualify as stimming.



LunaUlysses
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02 Nov 2011, 5:04 pm

Ganondox wrote:
I think the reverse is true for me: if I'm extremely anxious I'm more likely to do things that qualify as stimming.



Quite the same. I find when I'm upset, I get really twitchy, and I can't stay still.



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02 Nov 2011, 5:18 pm

Ganondox wrote:
I think the reverse is true for me: if I'm extremely anxious I'm more likely to do things that qualify as stimming.


I think the OP was saying just that, in a sense. When he or she tries to control stimming - reduce it, that is - the anxiety builds. Am I making sense?

I agree with both of you - except when I am terribly anxious and terribly phobic and want to hide, I tend not to move much at all.



lola2136
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02 Nov 2011, 8:17 pm

Frieslander wrote:
Ganondox wrote:
I think the reverse is true for me: if I'm extremely anxious I'm more likely to do things that qualify as stimming.


I think the OP was saying just that, in a sense. When he or she tries to control stimming - reduce it, that is - the anxiety builds. Am I making sense?

I agree with both of you - except when I am terribly anxious and terribly phobic and want to hide, I tend not to move much at all.


I don´t know if you could understand me.I was trying to say that all my life, I tried to control my stims . I think that trying to control them caused me anxiety .If I don´t control them, I don´t have panic attacks.In stressful situations when I am in public, I began stimming.I can control the stims (sometimes) but I feel so anxious that I feel that someone is asphyxiating me and I need to find a dark place to hide.



lola2136
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02 Nov 2011, 8:18 pm

Frieslander wrote:
Ganondox wrote:
I think the reverse is true for me: if I'm extremely anxious I'm more likely to do things that qualify as stimming.


I think the OP was saying just that, in a sense. When he or she tries to control stimming - reduce it, that is - the anxiety builds. Am I making sense?

I agree with both of you - except when I am terribly anxious and terribly phobic and want to hide, I tend not to move much at all.


I don´t know if you could understand me.I was trying to say that all my life, I tried to control my stims . I think that trying to control them caused me anxiety .If I don´t control them, I don´t have panic attacks.In stressful situations when I am in public, I began stimming.I can control the stims (sometimes) but I feel so anxious that I feel that someone is asphyxiating me and I need to find a dark place to hide.



readingbetweenlines
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03 Nov 2011, 3:16 am

Joe90 wrote:
. The only ''stimming'' I sort of do (not sure if it is classed as stimming or not) is I skip from my bedroom to another room, excitedly shouting out the names of the people I am obsessed with.

For what it's worth Joe90 I think that counts!
Back to original post, I can easily imagine that suppressing something that gives you some form of comfort or control will add to your feelings of anxiety, whether in public or in private. Perhaps you thought, what if I simply had to stim in public (bearing in mind I don't know how obvious this would be), how would I manage that situation?


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03 Nov 2011, 10:24 am

I think I do some things that could be classified as "stimming". I've found, however, that the word itself makes me anxious, as well as the concept. I keep thinking of how upset and angry people might've been with me as a child if they'd known about it. My mother and older sister were very touchy about certain things, and I feel pretty certain this would've been a problem. I had enough trouble as it was.


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