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 ?

OMG I thought it was just me and have never told anyone.

I draw lines around things in my head

It’s not stimming as such. Stimming is when the person does something to help regulate their mood/behaviour. So something that’s calming and repetitive. I work with sen kids and the variety of stimming is huge. Anything from flapping, tapping, humming. This photo might help.

what you’re describing sounds like an ocd type of behaviour. Like people who can’t walk on the crack, or who have to tap a switch 5 times, count to a certain number. They do it for similar reasons, as a coping mechanism but I believe it slightly differs from stimming.

I like to count how many people there are i.e. in a photo, in the swimming pool, in the cinema, how many people I pass on the walk into town. Also dogs. We walk round the park and count how many dogs we can see. Just usually scan ahead and count how many things are around e.g cars or trees.

I do a similar thing and have done since childhood. I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 39.

It's fours for me 😊

I have to get up at a slightly different time every morning.

If I get out of bed at 6:30 EVERY morning, I might wear a hole through the blanket of time. I imagine that would mean I would get out of bed and just fall into an abyss.

So some days I get up at 6:32, others 6:29

It seems to be working!

I add up numbers like they're on a digital clock where the numbers are formed by black lines. The number of lines in each number is what I count.

So,

1 is 2
2 is 5
3 is 5
4 is 4
5 is 5
6 is 6
7 is 3
8 is 7
9 is 6

I apply it to number plates, if I'm watching TV and numbers come up or any numbers I see anywhere really.

I also cancel out vowels in words and sentences. So the word 'sentence' would become 'e' as it's the only single vowel left. It can be quite distracting if I'm watching something subtitled.

Yeah I count. Various things.. its automatic. I don’t fight it. If my mind is v occupied with something else, I do it less. As I child I had to run and touch things.. or pick things up and look at the bottom of things. It was fairly compulsive. My mum was aware of it but don’t know that anyone else was.

i understand it to be an OCD thing but on the spectrum of this kind of behaviour, I’m not on the very high end I don’t think as it doesn’t really affect my life to any degree. Eg I am not so compulsive that it makes me late for things. The counting is just something ‘my brain does’ as the OP says. I’m not otherwise OCD nor on the autism spectrum I don’t think.

Brains are weird and still so poorly understood.

Sorry haven’t RTFT, was hoping there was an answer on the first page, but alas! Do we have a diagnosis? I do this so want to know what I have -lol-

No. There's nothing in my head except songs. Always a song, even if I'm not conscious of it.
It's very annoying if it's a song I don't like.
I am an absolute expert at song words because of this, I'm sure.

I used to do it all the time and stopped around ten years ago maybe? I’m 40 this year

Not related but when I wash up I scrub a plate up and down for 50 times and count it and if I am say drinking water I do it for 30 seconds exactly and count the gulps, if I am tidying a small area I count to 100 then stop cleaning when I get a 100. It's really bizarre like I have subconscious timers that are done by counting

Yes I have this!!! I always think if I went to prison I would be ok as I would have music

I find patterns of fives. Often when I'm chewing, I realise I have to chew in fives... each side of my mouth twice and once in the middle. I make myself stop but become aware of it frequently. I also often tap my tongue against my teeth, in fives. I grind my teeth too! I wish I didn't!

Since her retirement, I've noticed mu mum stimming constantly. She rubs her toes and finger together and sways. Sometimes she hums. To be honest, it drives me absolutely bonkers. As in, it infuriates me and I feel irrationally iritated. I've never mentioned it as I don't want to hurt her feelings.

I often wonder if all of the females in my family should get tested for ASD/ADHD but what's the point? It's interesting though.

I don't count things but I spell words with my finger, not sure why or when? I find myself thinking about words and my left index finger (I'm left handed) will write the letters in my imagination.

I mostly do it in bed. I may move my finger a bit or I may not move it at all but I can still imagine the finger writing the word, even if it doesn't actually do anything. A bit like waving a sparkler to write your name.....

Guess we're all a bit weird.....😀

I don’t count but I look for patterns. What I do is constantly scan a room and if something isn’t in exactly the right place or doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing, I have to move it. I do the number plate thing too but I guess I’m scanning them for words because I’m good with words and hopeless with numbers.

I have ASD/OCD/inattentive ADHD.

At 3.07pm I have to press the button for the electric window three times. The window must stay open until 3.10pm. If I’m not in the car I just poke the air. It isn’t bad luck if I don’t notice the time though.

It’s because I was scared of collecting ASD children from school in case they were upset and it was to bring me good luck. My DC are 19 and 21 now😁.

Sorry that’s nothing to do with counting!

Not counting, more words for me. Often I have to imagine my thoughts as being handwritten - frustrating as it slows my thought process down. Also, often have to think of alliterations e.g all the foods I can think of beginning with a letter.

I mostly do this when I'm on my own, so it doesn't interfere with interactions etc, but does annoy me sometimes as I struggle to focus on the present and spend too much time in my head. Also tend to do it more at times of stress, so have always seen it as a self regulating/ soothing thing?

Strange to think of us all with our random thoughts wandering around!

I trace words on my palm, count ceiling tiles, bookshelves, window edges, anything in groups, tap my fingertips with my thumb, over and over again in a loop, usually while standing still in a shop detached from reality!

I count windows in buildings, the panes of glass in a window, traffic bollards on a road, the tiles in a fireplace, the shelves in a bookcase etc. It is involuntary, and I’ve done it most of my adult life.

I have noticed in recent years that I count all day and probably be doing it forever. I count letters in words. I also have certain sentences I sometimes say in my head and then count the letters in those sentences. No idea why or if I can stop?!

Oh some of these replies are heartening..
For a long time I counted words on my fingers, the last word that I said had to end on my thumb, that was the full stop, if it didn't I would carry on until it did.
I do have a few other stims, leg shaking, rubbing textures between my thumb and index finger, biting off split ends... I could go on 😬🤣
I'm awaiting an ADHD assessment and have an autistic daughter. I'm pretty vocal if anyone challenges her stims which I guess has helped me just see mine as part of me.

I have to put words in alphabetical order and group the letters according to how many letters there are in total. But I'll also start off by taking the vowels out and ordering them. So if I'm watching telly a word will jump out and I'll have to order it e.g. Demented. Firstly I'll take out the vowels eee then order the rest ddmnt. Then I'll order them all but as there are 8 letters I'll group in to 2's. So dd, ee, em, nt.

I drive myself crazy and think it's mainly when I'm feeling anxious I'm not ND and I have OCD type tendencies like constant checking.

I’m forever working out which is the middle letter in sentences or long words on signs. In sentences I then recalculate taking into account spaces as well as letters.