What causes you to want to stim?

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I'm aware that "sensory issues" is one of the basic answers behind stimming, but what feelings do other autistic people get that make them want to do so? I know everyone's experience is different, so I'm curious what other people are actually experiencing.

Some personal examples are that when I get happy/excited it often makes me feel something close to my body being overstimulated, like a bunch of my senses just got turned up to 10 and have decided to pick up on every little bit of input, which ironically causes me to get the urge to sway/rock or bounce in my seat if I'm sitting to balance it out/distract myself. I also get the urge to sway/rock when I'm understimulated, as holding still will feel like I'm not getting enough vestibular input and it makes me feel disconnected/isolated(?) from the space around me, for some reason.

Another thing is I sometimes get the urge to tap/gently beat on the upper muscles of my chest as it distracts from what I can only describe as the tightening(?) feeling inside my chest I get from too much input, or adds feeling to the "empty" sensation I get in my chest from being understimulated.

Overall, being understimulated makes me feel like someone shut off/turned down my ability to sense certain things or certain body parts, so I have to do things to create input and compensate for that. Being overstimulated makes the opposite happen, like certain parts of my body and some sensations have been amped up too much, so I need to distract myself from that input with different input that I am expecting and can tolerate.

First of all, thank you for sharing your experiences on the subject - I've never spoken to other people who stim so I'm interested in knowing how it works for others.

For me, I guess I have never put together concrete points in my mind for why I do - best guess for me is both to compensate for over/understimulation. Before I was diagnosed, I always assumed my handflapping or need to pace was just an expression of excessive energy, so maybe it still is that (just with more context now). I have flapped my hands since I was mobile, so that has remained with me my entire life. I mostly hit them together in front of myself. Otherwise, I hit my hands on my legs. This typically happens most if I'm listening to music or 'talking to myself' (I don't like the phrase because typically I'm talking to 'other people', only that they aren't there and are typically fictional). So whenever I do these things, it causes my imagination to ramp up and I need some way to get out the energy, so I hit my hands together.

Although, I have been known to hand-flap/stim even when talking to others, particularly if I'm anxious. Again, I see it as a form of energy expression, like I have too much nervous energy and need to exert it somehow to keep myself calm. It's sort of similar to not making eye contact (another thing I have never done, even since adolescence) and when I think about why I don't make eye contact, it's because it takes away focus on what I'm talking about. Both things are related (in my mind) because they contribute to my ability to adequately express myself without taking away focus and energy to keep myself from doing either one.

I hope that all made sense, haha - I look forward to hearing what others think on the subject, too!

Hmmm.... What causes me to want to stim? Everything! Seriously, I stim pretty much nonstop when I'm alone. I was heavily shamed for my stimming as a child, and so I quickly learned not to do it around other people. But when I'm alone? Forget it!

As far as feelings go though, I've noticed that my stimming usually comes from either being very happy/excited or being very angry. And what's interesting, there are certain stims that are usually associated with each of those kinds of emotions for me.

If I'm feeling really good, I will usually do more jumping/bouncing as well as hand flapping. But if I'm angry, I usually do more hand/arm wringing (sometimes just out in the air, and sometimes I will bring my hands and arms to my face as I wring them).

Both kinds of emotions can bring body rocking or pacing for me. Both kinds also seem to lead to odd noises somehow escaping from my mouth without me realizing it.

I honestly don't have to be feeling anything (at least consciously) to stim though (especially for rocking and pacing). It just seems to be a part of life for me!

What causes me to stim?

When I'm bored enough.
When I want to pass time.
When I just want to ignore everything around me.
When I'm trying to process something and while not exactly being in alignment.
When I want to pay attention and hear something.
When I have enough uncomfortable emotions and sensations.
When something feels... Like an unreachable itch to move or digest something immaterial.


Half the time controlled or voluntary as I let it go naturally whether or not it's noticeable, most of the other half by acting on compulsion though I'd tend to be aware of it may or may not be entirely voluntary and controllable, and it's exceedingly rare for me to do it conspicuously done completely unaware and involuntarily.

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I want to stim because it feels good. Seriously, that's the bottom line. That's why I want to stim.

It's not always about anxiety. Yes it is sensory seeking and sensory avoiding, but I'm not always aware of the sensory need that precipitates a stim. They just happen, and they feel good.

I have so many stims that it took me an entire hour to list some of them to my OT on a Zoom session, during my intake meeting. She said most autistic people can name / describe their stims in about five minutes. I took 60 minutes and didn't even cover them all.

I don't think I stim really. I sometimes shake my foot in bed if I can't get to sleep, which may be a stim of some sort, but it's not triggered by emotions.
Also sometimes when I'm concentrating hard on drawing or writing, I'll squint my eyes and screw my whole face up - not because I can't see, but because it seems to keep me focused and stops me from getting distracted, as I do have a very short attention span and I find it difficult to hyperfocus even on my own hobbies.

Interesting question. For me, stimming is not really a conscious decision; at some point I'll just realise that I'm stimming. I suspect stimming is just my way of expressing emotions.

mostly anxiety...sometimes just being alive

I like hearing other autistics perspectives about this.I guess I don't really think a great deal about it. For me some forms of the stemming I do sort of cross over into what an NT would think of as completely normal, like my need to do voice impersonations, or singing or throwing a ball.I think that for me is that what I maybe feel is that I need the stimming, sort of like needing or being addicted to a medication but it also kind of helps with stress in a way. And being addicted to a substance or medication is much worse so I'm glad it's just stimming.

I stim when bored, happy, or anxious.

I stim (mostly in the form of either singing/humming, fidgeting with the long wire connecting my headphones to my computer/phone, or tapping my fingers/"drumming" on any nearby solid surface) primarily when I'm anxious/nervous, but it can happen when I'm excited as well.

Stress and anxiety makes me stim, but I choose to stim when I’m happy as well.(via music, swimming, pacing, or drinking too much tea etc) Everyone stims, be they NT or ND, whether they’re aware of it or not.

I mostly stim because it feels good and when i get stressed.

What FEELING? Well, it is like being too full of reactions to stimulus. Trying to see the logic in NT behaviour can leave me on the edge of confusion. A stim is like a meditation to calm things down.