Poll Do You Fidget?

[harrywgtn]

I fidget non stop , counciler says that she thinks i have not been relaxed since i was 10 years old. It annoys my work mates and family , but i have to other wise it builds up inside me and my mind races.

 

[Mina]

I was just thinking about fidgeting, as my boss remarked on it recently. I do fidget all the time, and have for years...long before the PTSD. In grade school, it was playing with pencil erasers - the kind you stick on the top of the pencil when the original eraser is gone. Through high school, college, and early career, it was fidgeting with a necklace charm I wore every day. Now, at work, I'm always wearing one of those rubber fingertips (I flip through so many papers each day...). After a few weeks, I have to get a new one because it's so stretched out and the nubby things are all gone because I've rubbed them off. If I don't have an object to fidget with, I'll pick around my fingernails, although I am working on breaking that habit (the rubber fingertips are a great substitute).

 

[Tinyflame]

I fidget a lot- and worse yet, I think I actually fidget more than I think I fidget!

 

[Mary Elynne]

I am a knee bouncer also... constantly.... I also have been diagnosed with restless syndrome.... it keeps me up at night. I have meds to help me sleep through it but I still have to rub my feet together to be able to fall asleep.

 

[Marlene]

When I'm at work I take my fidgiting and try to incorporate it into 'appropriate' moves. I fold and unfold my hands, cross and uncross my legs, etc. When others are around I tend to 'strap' myself down and keep it to a minimum. At home...all bets are off and I can be as twitchy and fridgity as I want.

This has always been just part of me.

Lisa

 

[sallysellsseashells]

I fidget a lot. I used to have naturally gidget hair, and my mum would call me "fidget gidget". I don't know what gidget hair is from seeing it, but it has been explained to me: it kind of curls out and up all the way around. Mine kind of curls uner on one side, and out on the other side, and it gets tangled at the back. That is when it is all one length. Now I have layers!!!

Anyway, the fidgetting has not stopped, so now I'm just "fidget".

Sometimes I think of it as warming up, because I get cold easily, and sometimes I think of it as exercise. But there are times when I am distressed that I fidget because of this.

I don't think it is an emotion barometer. I think it is an energy barometer. If you feel good and have a lot of energy that's helpful, but tend to fidget when there is nothing to do with the hands. If you feel bad and have a lot of energy, tend to break things (accidentally, from too much fidgetting) or teat paper or forl paper until it tears, or tissues, or tapping.

I play guitar & piano, so I think the fidgeting is guitar/piano practice when I'm not with a guitar, or at a piano. It must improve muscle tone, I have a lot of dexterity, luckily. I stretch them a lot too, to avoid getting cramps.

 

[LovinHuggin]

I voted yes to constantly fidgeting, but this is because of my autism and isn't directly related to my PTSD. In autistics, it's called "stimming". It's actually a useful activity because it helps to calm me down if I am overstimulated. I don't know if it's true of those with PTSD too, but with autistics, stimming helps our brains process sensory information. Tapping my toes or flicking my fingers is actually a good thing for me in that respect. I get really freaked out if I'm not allowed to move. I could have a total meltdown if someone were to try to prevent me from moving.

Yeah I stim pretty much all the time and often fidget with objects too and I also rock.

 

[freakofnurture]

I play around with my thumbs and index fingers; the intensity changes, but sometimes I get callus on the insides of my upper thumb joint (that i then pick off). I also pick/gnaw at the skin around my finger nails (have both my thumbs skinned to the first joint sometimes, and often scabs around the nails), pick/pull at my lower lip and knead the tip of my nose. When I'm out of the house I mostly carry one of my notebooks and my pencil in my hands, even when I'm not intending to write, so I can press my finger nails around the edges of the book and play with the pen.

 

[Serene]

[quote="batgirl, post: 69143" I could have a total meltdown if someone were to try to prevent me from moving.[/quote]

OMG! Me too. One time I went to a hypnotherapist. He kept telling me to lie still. I tried so hard but I thought I was going to explode! It feels like ants are crawling all over me.

I used to have a smooth stone that I put in my pocket. When I needed to fidget I would put my hand in my pocket and rub it. I did this for months. Then one day I saw myself in a mirror while doing this. It looked like I was playing with myself. I was so embarrassed! I had to go back to rubbing my fingers back and forth. I also rub the deep ridges on my fingernails. The texture is comforting for some strange reason.

I can't believe I am writing these things. Nowhere else could I write stuff like this and have people identify.

 

[jo may]

I only fidget when I'm restless and that's normally when in a new situation.

 

[healingangel90]

I fidget allll the time! I can't seem to sit still. In class, I'm either shaking my leg, or flexing my thighs, or moving my whole upper body back and forth. Most of the time I don't realize until someone point it out or tells me to stop. Right now I'm laying in bed shaking my foot -_-

 

[jo may]

I put I sometimes fidget but I'd have to change that now to constantly, the is no part of the day when I'm not fidgetting. Partly to do with this, but mostly due to my Fibro.