Does anyone else count everything?

[Canopop]

I count everything, not in seconds or anything meaningful just arbitrary counting. Just caught myself counting while I’m filling my mug from the kettle 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I know it always takes 7 to fill my green mugs … is this normal do other people do this? It doesn’t impact my life remotely and I’m very chill person nice job lovely family etc no trauma… just thought maybe it’s not completely normal to count everything but maybe it is?

This is me - and as someone who isn’t ND and who has always been pants at and despised maths I’m fascinated as to why I’m so compelled to do this!!

But @Pegsmum - your Mumsnet name has an odd number of letters!!!!

I do! I'm autistic

I find it really calming. When I was a kid waiting for DM to pick me up I'd play counting games. How many cars / red cars needed to go past before it was our car etc. Sometimes I count myself to sleep. I'll get up in 10,9,8 etc.

Compulsive behaviour is usually a form of OCD.

I count one thing only, but ALWAYS do it: knocks on a door. I do it when watching TV, so I hear the knocks, and then recreate them in my head and work out the number of knocks.

Yes but I am AuDHD. I count everything, i count stairs, I count how many corners are on the tv (the answer in my world isnt 4) i count tiles, I count rows of words on my phone, I count doors, rooms, appliances. I have favourite things to count. I can also take a mental photo of something really count worthy and "save" it in a mental photo album to count again when i want to.

I also read words in 2 ways i read as normal words, and at the same time as numbers. So the sentence "i love pizza and pepsi" is also simultanously read as "1 4 5 3 5".

I love the numbers that end in zeros and fives. 100 is very satisfying. I always do it, i always have. I can have full conversations and also be counting everything in the room.

Today as well as counting stuff, it has also been counting up to 8. 123456781234567812345678 the best way to describe it is as a soundtrack in the background in my head. Yesterday it was in fives from 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60.

There is other things ive noticed i do, or can do that i always thought was normal but it turns out, they arent

I do this too!

I'm definitely ND though.

Yip I definitely do this. It makes the day run smoother.

I count plates and cutlery. I have two sets of different colours and I work out if we should have all one set or interleave them. How many are in the DW? Or broken…
I had one of those hanging cutlery stands and nearly drove myself crazy deciding how many to take off each side!
I also use opaque liquid soap dispensers as I ponder when or how much they need refilling. Harder to ignore if the bottle is transparent.

My sister does this. She also has a thing that she has to even out her steps. If she stepped on one blue tile with left foot she has to step on another blue tile with right foot.

Also she has some relationship to objects. Is that what you mean when you said the stairs need to be thought about?

Oh my gosh, this is the thread I never knew I needed! I have found my people!

I only count two things but I count them every single time. Stairs - whether going up or down. I’ve lived in my house a million years, I know without thinking how many stairs there are and yet I still count each bloody one when I’m using them. Same with any other set of stairs.

I also count veg when I’m chopping it which really irritates me 😄 so if I’m chopping a pepper, or some baby corn, or broccoli, I always count how many cuts of the knife it takes. I’m aware I do this and sometimes start singing “10 Green Bottles” in my head to distract myself but it doesn’t always work.

It’s no real biggie and I am fascinated to discover so many others do similar too!

I read somewhere that things like counting when you have autism is actually like internal/mental stimming. Which made a lot of sense to me

I count stairs as otherwise my brain gets in a bit of a pickle and I end up falling up/down them. Counting them really helps!

Hmm I suppose I get this as an aside but I really am neuro typical and I still count count count 😁

My dad always counted things. He would say to us “Don’t look now, but how many slats do you think are on the blind behind you?” etc.

My favourite one of his (not long before he died) was when he bumped into a running club friend of his.

He told me “She chatted away to me, but little did she know I was counting her teeth”

That’s a sweet and very funny memory bless him

Yes I do that. I suspect undiagnosed ND because I do other things too that would seem weird. Both my kids are ND.

Totally normal as far as I’m concerned. 13 steps on my stairs.

squeezes of washing up liquid has to be 2, for a count of 1 and 2.

cheese sandwich has 3 slices.

And many more things.

I am so delighted and relieved to have come across this thread! I have always counted random things and was intrigued to find a Stephen King character doing it.
The compulsion even has a name - arithmomania - and it is associated with OCD as others have mentioned.
Off now to correct the volume on the TV as my son has it on an odd number which will not do!!

TV volume for me must be on 14. 13 or 15 just isn’t right.

For the counters out there, it can be very useful! I fly aircraft for a living, and we are constantly doing background mental arithmetic in our heads. It’s necessary - speed equals distance over time, rate of descent is half the ground speed, at 7t of fuel per hour how many minutes can we hold for, and so on. Most of our calculations can be done in multiples of 2, 3 or 5. So although I was not much good at maths at school I can do these mental calculations quickly and easily.

I also orienteer as a hobby. For this, we measure distance by counting footsteps. I cover 100m in 70 footsteps in walk. I don’t run, but other orienteers run and know how many footsteps they do per 100m in a walk, run, if they are going uphill or in scrubby terrain etc. We measure the distance on a map and from that can work out how many footsteps we have to go to cover that distance, then it’s a simple act of counting to that number. I can do this counting now and carry out other calculations while still counting - I count all my footsteps when orienteering just in case I need to know how far I’ve gone. In real geek-ness, I also orienteer on my horses. Horse A does 50 footsteps per 100m in walk and 38 in trot, Horse B does 54 in walk and 34 in trot. I count all their footsteps too. Even when not orienteering. I’m rather good at it, but can’t reveal what success it’s brought me here because it would be too outing. 🤣

But my favourite calculation is S=D/T. I do this one while I’m flying, riding, walking and especially driving long distances. I constantly calculate and recalculate arrival times at destination depending on the speed of the traffic. I don’t like the radio on because it interferes with this.

I do this when I’m driving mainly. Usually lamp posts, especially on a bypass or motorway. I don’t notice myself doing it most of the time.

Counting incessantly is a form of OCD, it comes from underlying anxiety and the need for control.

No anxiety here at all. I just enjoy numbers and number patterns.