This weird thing my brain does - is this stimming ?

[byb]

So ever since I was 15, I've noticed that my brain counts stuff.

It's hard to explain, I don't do it consciously.

I count surfaces with my fingers from afar.

So say right now I'm looking at my walk and I see wall / curtain /wall / curtain / wall. My brain will count the different surfaces automatically. It's not conscious. I think my fingers slightly move when I do it. It's always 5. So starts with wall little finger/ curtain ring finger/ wall middle finger/ curtain second finger and wall again / thumb.

My brain is basically always trying to scan the room or whatever it is for surfaces which fit into that order of my fingers - so 5. It's super random and I hadn't thought about it consciously in ages, but I do it a lot.

Now I'm looking at the wall opposite and counted door/ wall / TV / wall/ door.

Does anyone else do something similar ?

Great thread. I work with ASD kids and have an ADHD one myself. I'm going to ask them. I'm ADHD but never done it myself... unless extremely bored

I’d never heard of stimming, or of other people counting — I thought it was just me! I only really realised in the past few years how much I do it, and how it relaxes me. I also enjoy it.

As a child, I was often worried and anxious because of difficulties at home. Counting in various ways must have given me a kind of sense of orderliness when things were going wrong.

I’m just amazed finding this thread. Thanks for writing, OP and PPs. It’s after midnight so I’ll read it all tomorrow.

Goodnight, all you other members of my tribe that I’ve only just discovered!

I memorise the letters in number plates ( not that successfully) am always lookin for palindromic numbers and words and I am always anagramming words. I don't do it all the time and I don't do it at all obsessively but I do it every day at some point or other. It's just my mind wandering when I'm on the bus or waiting in a queue.

Counting things, matching things and looking for patterns etc are very normal things to do and as long as they don't cause any negative effects then I don't think it's anything to worry about.

Look at how popular mindless phone/tablet games are. Think about how many millions of people play CandyCrush for example.

It's all normal-level OCD. When one does any sort of psych training, everyone tends to find they have a bit of everything. It's only pathological when it makes life difficult.

I do something similar. Not as much now but very much in my teens.
I visualise sentences in my head and count the crossing of the t's and dots of the i's .
Never really thought about why, but as I'm getting older sure I have ADHD.

I think.lots of us fo different counting things. Does it matter?

It's not stimming - it's more of an OCD type trait and I think quite common in people with OCD tendencies.

But of course, it's not a problem unless it's actually making your life difficult/stressful.

I count syllables in sentences too. If they're not in sets of 3 or 7 I have to add words to make it so. I also have to say everything backwards in my head. It's quite exhausting really 😂

I sometimes (not sure how often because I sometimes notice I’m doing it without being that conscious of it) anyway I go through words, normally when someone is talking. counting on my fingers the vowel to consonants and see how many consonants are left over, I’m happier if it’s an even number 🤔

I thought I was the only syllable counter out there! Don’t do it so much any more but did madly as a young teen. A good count ends on 5 or 10 and like a pp I add words or rephrase things to make that happen

Not exactly the same but i count too. If i am out anywhere i always count how many stairs i am climbing. If i have a tune or song in my head, i tap my fingers to it, starting with the little finger to the thumb and then on and on. If it finishes and i am only on one of the middle fingers, i have to do it again until i can finish on an end digit. It gets a habit. Patterns on wallpaper and how many tiles on a ceiling.

I don't count as such, but I make triangles. So I hunt out bumps on a plain wall for example and mentally join three bumps together to form a triangle, or three flowers on a curtain, three spots on the dog, three stones on the driveway and on and on. I do it constantly. Always 3 points, and always a triangle 😊

When walking or in the car I read things like signs, number plates, phone numbers and try to memorise them

OCD (yes, of course that's an armchair diagnosis, but OP asked).

I’ve done something similar since I was very young. Mine is the edges of square or rectangular shapes, counting them, then again but dropping one side and and adding them up, then filling them in - sounds crazy but makes a weird sense to me. I don’t have any diagnosis but have some ocd traits and behaviours and there is asd in my family.

I used to do this all the time, even counted fence posts, stopped it mostly now but I do count steps when I go up or down them, I thought I was a weirdo 😂

I'm subconsciously counting stuff in my head all the time, have always done it since I was a child.
Maths was my top subject whilst at school so this may be why, but this could also be an undiagnosed neuro diversion 🙃

Yes I do it all the time. I notice if I'm really stressed I count the leaves on my plants in a certain order again and again, even if there are only 3 leaves!

My eldest dd does this too-but as part of a ocd ritual when she has been anxious.it’s more a compulsion

Yeah, I look for patterns and count things. Feel unsettled if I stop myself.

Was told it was OCD (I also suffer with intrusive thought patterns) but now it's looking like I have ASD (after DS's diagnosis).

Yes, I do this. I have Autism and OCD tendencies. I sort of 'trace' with my mind the curtain rings, doors on the TV cabinet and wardrobe. I also trace people's features on the TV; eye, eye, nose, mouth, ear, ear, eyebrows. I possibly do it dozens of times a day. It sometimes becomes tiring, but often I'm not really aware I'm actually doing it, as it's such an ingrained behaviour now.

I do that and am obsessed with certain numbers at different times - it’s 4s and 12s at the moment 😂 I am not diagnosed ASD but my husband made a casual comment last night about me definitely being on the spectrum. I do the same as you and move my fingers as I count and organise things in my mind. I assumed it was something to do with aphantasia but they may not be linked at all.

i make words out of words it’s like being in countdown non stop but just getting 3s and 4s 🤣

Yes I have always counted stuff. I can't walk into a room without counting the floor or wall tiles, I like to count in blocks, multiply then check in various sequences. My friends will try and catch me out...how many crystals on the chandelier, how many chairs.....they can tell I'm doing it as I tap my finger tips, each finger to my thumb.
If a wall is patterned I am mentally tracing it while counting the repeat pattern. The TV show Vera, the wall in the incident room arrrrgh.
In the car I trace the curb dips, both feet matching left and right side, double tap for lamp post.
Glad to see so many of us, it's perfectly normal to me.

Did something happened to you when you were 15?