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Odd comfort habits


hopeisnotlost

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hopeisnotlost

So I felt close to having a meltdown today...to calm down I grabbed my teddy bear, my kosh ball, a chewable toy and a blanket then curled up in the closet...I felt kinda embarrassed this calms me down but it shouldnt be. It felt embarrassing after all I am an adult and here I was sitting in the bottom of a closet like a child. But if it calms it calms me and I should do it regardless if it prevents a meltdown. Doing what you need to do to feel ok is not something to be embarrassed about. I was wondering does anyone else have any odds comfort habits they would like to share?

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I smooth down the hair on my arms when I'm uncomfortable or nervous. Sometimes when crying gets really bad I stuff my face into the softest most squishable stuffed animal I have because it makes it difficult to breathe without focusing a lot on deep breaths. Taking all of or a large group of stuffed animals and hugging them as tight as possible is really calming. 

 

Maybe my response wasn't the one you're looking for because I'm physically by age a child, but if everyone above the age of 18 is never a child again, I think that would be a very broken and sad society. Hence why it might be embarrassing, because right now we have a society that hates childishness and tells people to "buck up" and "be an adult". 

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hopeisnotlost
13 minutes ago, Acerna said:

I smooth down the hair on my arms when I'm uncomfortable or nervous. Sometimes when crying gets really bad I stuff my face into the softest most squishable stuffed animal I have because it makes it difficult to breathe without focusing a lot on deep breaths. Taking all of or a large group of stuffed animals and hugging them as tight as possible is really calming. 

 

Maybe my response wasn't the one you're looking for because I'm physically by age a child, but if everyone above the age of 18 is never a child again, I think that would be a very broken and sad society. Hence why it might be embarrassing, because right now we have a society that hates childishness and tells people to "buck up" and "be an adult". 

Good answer.

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spencexists

Stuffed animals. My teachers assign a lot of assignments that for some reason give me anxiety attacks or just bad anxiety and I keep a brown teddy bear in a purple bunny costume (with a fucking HOOD) on the bench next to my desk so I can be calm. I also chew gum but I'm sure I'd chew a toy if I had one

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Oh yeah I definitely relate to using stuffed animals for comfort. I have this Eeyore plushie that I’ve had for like as long as I can remember and I sometimes hug him really tight when I’m having anxiety. I’ve even had him in the car with me for my driving anxiety.

 

And of course I also often cuddle with my husbando’s dakimakuras or plushies for comfort.

 

I have a chew necklace too that I’ve been wearing more lately. Chewing it can help me feel calm but I also tend to do it when I’m concentrating on something or just for stimming in general.

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Skin picking is definitely unhealthy and I should stop myself from doing it so I'm not gonna call it a comfort habit ;(

 

Idk why but washing my hands helps me calm down a lot. When I feel my anxiety building I to go to the bathroom and just wash my hands several times. Other than that, I try to find distractions in art or video games or something

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I haven't done it in ages, but sometimes when I get really anxious I'll write things in the air, using my finger as a pen. I'll just write one word or phrase over and over until I feel better. I'm in my 30s and have had this habit since I was seven.

 

A friend once referred to it as "stimming" but I've only ever heard of stimming in relation to autism and I'm not autistic. So maybe it's just me being an odd duck, idk.

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I don't know that it's that odd, but I'm 36 and over the past couple years I've bought three blankets (two are actually baby blankets, one is full size) on eBay that are identical to ones I had as a baby/child. They're made from acrylic material and they're super soft and fuzzy, and apparently they don't make them anymore cos acrylic fabric can be a carcinogen lol. But they're the most soothing thing ever to me... so nostalgic, and I have a very visceral response to even thinking about them, let alone touching them haha. Some of the best purchases I've made in recent years. I sleep with them... all of them... every night. 🙃

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hopeisnotlost
4 hours ago, Skittles87 said:

I haven't done it in ages, but sometimes when I get really anxious I'll write things in the air, using my finger as a pen. I'll just write one word or phrase over and over until I feel better. I'm in my 30s and have had this habit since I was seven.

 

A friend once referred to it as "stimming" but I've only ever heard of stimming in relation to autism and I'm not autistic. So maybe it's just me being an odd duck, idk.

Everyone even neurotypicals stim.

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what the face

At times of fluster or fatigue or frustration I can relax my conjugate gaze into a middle distance until my vision lands on something moving like a mote floating in the air.  
I’ve been told by observers both sober and Not so much that my eyes will move seeming independently, “like a geico”

I believe this may go back to my first few weeks of life - sick, small and early.   My eyes couldn’t or didn’t focus for a few months after I got out of the hospital.  
Part of my imagination holds that this early instinct/ability helped me cope and survive when I would not have otherwise.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
harmonic turquoise

For me, odd comfort habits are swaying my body like a jellyfish. My family tell me not to do this because it makes them dizzy . But when I do this, I'm relaxed. I only do this in my own home.

 

I also love to play on the swing. Why is it that when we grow up, there is an unspoken rule that riding on a swing is childish? I am swinging on a swing set in an empty park early in the morning. I think nothing, I just feel the wind.

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GhoulFriend

Walking in cemeteries, for me. I always feel calmer when I do so, and there's usually nobody else around those places anyway. Just me and the dead. Just today, I actually had a picnic by myself in an old cemetery - spent almost the whole day there, just alone, exploring around the graves, and resting in the quiet.  I sure needed that, after working an 8-day week! 

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GingerRose

IDK I just cry and take a nap...and maybe do a guided meditation.

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On 5/4/2021 at 7:56 AM, Harmonic turquoise said:

I also love to play on the swing. Why is it that when we grow up, there is an unspoken rule that riding on a swing is childish? I am swinging on a swing set in an empty park early in the morning. I think nothing, I just feel the wind.

Me too, I’m 30 in a few days and still love swings. My grandma who’s in her 70’s has also said she still likes going on them sometimes.

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DemonicEnby

I have a lot of stuffed animals, mostly unicorns - even a big one I use as a pillow - and have two that I always took to work with me, when not being permanently in homeoffice. Though those two still sit on my work table when I am working (two tiger plushies wo ne exact) and yes, each and every one has a name. 

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harmonic turquoise
16 hours ago, Gloomy said:

Me too, I’m 30 in a few days and still love swings. My grandma who’s in her 70’s has also said she still likes going on them sometimes.

It's nice to find someone who feels the same way.

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