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Most people engage in stimming behaviors, like fidgeting or biting one’s nails. Stimming is often a self-soothing behavior that usually isn’t harmful. In conditions like autism and ADHD, stimming behaviors are often more obvious.

Read on to understand what stimming is, why people engage in it, and how you should respond to it.

Stimming: Definition and Examples

What is stimming? “Stimming” is short for self-stimulatory behaviors, or behaviors that stimulate one or more of the senses. In most cases, stimming isn’t harmful. Instead, people stim because they find it helps them in some way.

Stimming may help someone calm down. Focusing on one sensation, like touch or sound, can help someone avoid sensory overload from the environment.

Stimming is also a way to release energy. It can also help people, especially those who are nonverbal or less verbal, express joy or frustration.

Many people engage in stimming, meaning they bite their nails or rub their hands when nervous, for example.

Though neurotypical people engage in stimming, it’s more common and noticeable in people who are neurodivergent or have mental health conditions. Stimming is a sign of possible autism, ADHD, anxiety, or an intellectual disability.

Common Types of Stimming

Stimming often involves touch, but it can involve any of the senses, including the senses of smell, sight, balance, and sound.

For example, people may want to make a certain sound repeatedly, called a vocal stim. Or they may want to frequently smell something familiar, like newly washed clothing. One example of a visual stim is staring at a fan, while twirling is a stim related to balance.

Common examples of stimming include:

• Biting nails.
• Blinking repetitively.
• Chewing or sucking on an object or one’s finger.
• Clenching and unclenching fists.
• Flapping hands.
• Jiggling a leg or tapping a foot.
• Licking or smacking lips.
• Pulling or twisting one’s hair.
• Repeating words or sounds.
• Rocking back and forth.
• Rubbing, tapping, or snapping fingers.

Stimming in Autism

People with autism often stim to respond to anxiety or overstimulation or to express joy or frustration. In a survey of 100 people with autism, presented at the International Society for Autism Research, 80% said they enjoyed stimming. Meanwhile, 9% said they didn’t enjoy stimming, and 11% said it depended on the context.

About 44% of people with autism say they engage in stimming. That’s according to the American Psychiatric Association. Hand flapping or finger flicking and rubbing are common stims in children with autism.

People with autism may use different stims when they’re happy versus when they’re feeling frustrated or overwhelmed. As a caregiver or family member, you can look for patterns to understand the meaning of certain stims. Understanding can help you better respond to the person’s needs or emotions.

For example, your child may clench their fist in busy and loud environments, suggesting they feel overwhelmed. Or your friend or family member flaps their hands when watching their favorite show, suggesting they’re happy.

Stimming in ADHD

People with ADHD tend to engage in stimming more often than neurotypical people.

Those with ADHD may find stimming helps them combat boredom or release excess energy. (People with ADHD often find boredom especially stressful and feel hyperactive.) Stimming can also help people with ADHD focus on a single sensation to avoid sensory overload, a common feature of ADHD.

For example, people with ADHD may find fidget toys helpful to focus on in school or at work. Or they may find pacing a calming behavior.

How to Respond to Stimming

In the past, therapies focused on stopping stimming behaviors. Today, most people recognize that stimming isn’t harmful and is often helpful.

If stimming isn’t causing harm, you shouldn’t discourage the behavior. Instead, you can educate friends, teachers, and family about stimming.

For example, for a young child, you could say, “He flaps his hands when he’s excited. It means he’s happy to see you.” Explaining the stim can help to avoid the stigma or ignorance that people who stim may face.

Older children with autism or ADHD may want to explain stimming to others, or they may want you to help advocate for them. If a teacher or employer understands stimming, they’re less likely to find it confusing or disruptive.

What to Do if Stimming Becomes a Problem

In rare cases, stimming can cause harm. Some forms of stimming, like head banging, can cause injury. Other forms, such as vocal stims, may disrupt a classroom or affect learning.

Whether a stim is helpful or harmful may depend on when it happens or how often it happens. For example, pacing during a time of stress can help. But pacing too much could make engaging with people at school or work harder.

If you’re not sure if a stimming behavior is harmful, speak to a therapist, such as an autism therapist or licensed psychologist. They can help you understand why the stimming is happening and how you should respond.

It’s important not to punish stimming. People who stim often do so automatically or without thinking about it.

Punishing the person is unfair and stigmatizing. It can cause them to look for other ways to self-soothe that are less than ideal.

There are many ways to reduce, change, or stop a harmful stimming behavior. Autism specialists, speech therapists, and occupational therapists can help.

Methods to address a harmful stimming practice include:

• Becoming more aware — People can better control stimming by recognizing the cues that lead to the stimming behavior. Therapy can help people see how stimming behavior impacts them and others.
• Changing the environment — Avoid sensory overload, boredom, or other triggers. Using noise-cancelling headphones or avoiding loud and busy spaces can help.
• Exercising more — Running outside, yoga, and other exercise can help people who stim to release more energy.
• Replacing or changing the behavior — Learning to hum more quietly or to chew on an object instead of biting one’s nails, for example.

ADHD medicine can also reduce stimming behaviors. However, a doctor typically won’t prescribe medicine to treat stimming alone. They’ll usually only prescribe it to treat hyperactivity or a lack of focus.