Do You Rock?

[Cool Cat]

Of course, we all rock in the sense that we're cool :)
But do you 'rock' much, often, or at all?
I've started doing it in the last two weeks. I gotta admit, I find it fairly effective although a bit weird.
I've rocked myself to sleep.

Is it a bad thing to rock? And do you rock?

 

[StellaBlue]

Yes. Not often and only when I'm really distressed. But yes, I do...and no, I don't think it's a bad thing. I think it's ok to self soothe...maybe not at work though :)

 

[Cool Cat]

Is it a sign of anything?

 

[Anarchy]

Is it a sign of anything?

It's a self soothing behaviour - it might prompt a few questions if anyone sees you doing it, but using rocking to sooth yourself won't do you any harm.

The behaviour is not unique to humans, I've seen a very depressed gibbon at Fota zoo (near Cork) using rocking to soothe herself.

We knew a couple of the zoo staff and and asked them about her, they said she was actually on anti depressant meds. Goodness knows what traumas she'd endured.

 

[littlelostchild]

I sometimes rock to self soothe, and I don't see anything wrong with it. A rocking chair is a nice, comforting spot at times ;)

 

[Cool Cat]

I suppose it's better than the destructive habits I had not long ago.

I've seen a very depressed gibbon at Fota zoo (near Cork) using rocking to soothe herself.

We knew a couple of the zoo staff and and asked them about her, they said she was actually on anti depressant meds.

Woah that's incredibly interesting :o I went to that zoo when I was really young too actually.

It's a sorta guilty pleasure, I'd be mortified if anyone saw me doing it. Is self-soothing bad?

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

I rock, plural, though I do one more than the other. It's normal, healthy(*) and common (*)when under extreme stress as told to me by one of the only helpful crisis team members I've met. I was so tense and nervous (but not rocking) and he suggested I try it to help. I knew it had in the past, but I seemed unable at that point to try it until it was suggested, it did help and does, I use it fairly frequently, usually while curled in a ball, my hands wrapped around to the opposite shoulder, while shaking and often whilst talking/counting to try and focus on something and distract my thoughts. God help anyone who sees it, it must look awful, though to be honest I don't care when I'm like that, it's what I have to do. It's like asking someone with a knife wound not to bleed because it looks bad.

 

[Em C.]

Self soothing is a great thing to do as long as it isn't self destructive (cutting, drinking, etc). Rocking is a great thing to do as long as you aren't hurting yourself or anything. I talk to my cat over the phone which is a lot more weird than rocking ;)

 

[Seagreen]

I think its an instinctive soothing technique. People do it to babies when trying to calm them or put them to sleep. Ive also seen people do it when they hug. I used to do it when I was younger. Seems completely normal to me.

 

[Anarchy]

It's a sorta guilty pleasure, I'd be mortified if anyone saw me doing it. Is self-soothing bad?

Not at all! it's a vital skill, and doing it won't make you go blind ;)

See 7b here:http://pete-walker.com/13StepsManageFlashbacks.htm

In terms of animal analogues, look at any of the brighter mammals in a zoo and you'll see signs of trauma responses and self soothing behaviours, even self medicating behaviours such as self harm which induces release of the brain's own opioid like chemicals (I'm not suggesting that you self harm - only that it can be seen in caged animals as well as traumatized humans).

One of the people on the animal behaviour and welfare masters at the Dick vet school near Edinburgh was supposed to do their project on the chimps at Edinburgh zoo a few years back - the poor guys in the cage were completely institutionalized, they reminded me of aged, long term residents of an old fashioned lunatic assylum, they even had facial twitches as though they'd spent 20 years on thorazine (the sloppy facial control, muscle twitches and slurred speech from long term mental patients was nothing at all to do with their "conditions" and everything to do with the long term and irreversible effects of the drugs they were fed for years on end, such as thorazine, which made them easier for the staff to "manage").

 

[KwanYingirl]

I miss my rocking chair. It won't fit in my new place. I plan on getting a weatherproof one for my porch next spring. When I was a teenager I rocked myself to sleep to combat the yelling and violence in my home. We are encouraged to gently rock at yoga. I'd say it's a primal behavior that serves us well.

 

[Kintsugi]

I suppose it's better than the destructive habits I had not long ago.

I have only rocked when I was trying to avoid self-harm. I also used to run my hands over the floor a lot or whatever surface I was sitting on. It was an effort to keep my hands away from my body (so as to not injure myself), but stroking these surfaces had its own calming effect (even though the state I'm referencing here is Total Meltdown ;) ).