Stimming, a few questions.

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As I understand it, stimming is a way of coping with all kinds of stress, not just sensory stress. I might start stimming thinking about an awkward social moment, or if I have to talk to another member of staff at work I repetitively spin the keyring on my lanyard.

I have a related question. If it's involuntary, do you always know what function the action is serving?

I very often click my teeth in a rhythm. It's something I'll suddenly realize I'm doing, I don't decide to do it. But I can't say what function it serves. I don't know if it's enjoyable or why, I just know I do it a lot. I don't know what sparks it. I don't know if I need to do it because I've never tried not to. So maybe it's just a random habit with no specific purpose or benefits.

There are other things I do too which do seem to be associated with anxiety. But the teeth clicking (and also things like nail rubbing, nail picking) - no idea what motivates them.

^ I mostly don't have a specific need in mind when I'm actually doing it. Realising that it has a purpose has mostly come from noticing the need to do it more or less depending on what's been on my mind, from it being a kind of early warning system for impending meltdowns or shutdowns, and from noticing how stress builds up if I'm prevented from doing it.

In fact, I would say that for me it can often be the other way around - the compulsion to stim can be an indication that there is a problem that I'm unaware of. I have a lot of alexithymic traits, so I can be very slow to comprehend my own emotional state, and extremely negative states of mind can easily creep up on me without me noticing. I pay a lot of attention now to how my stimming and sensory issues wax and wane, as it really helps me to be more pro-active managing meltdowns/shutdowns and extreme emotions.

To be clear, I should also have said - I don't think it's always a sign that something's wrong, I'm sure I do for innocuous reasons too at times.