My ADD/OCD cocktail in the head often makes it difficult for me to sit still unless I'm in hyperfocus mode. I've always been a notorious skin/cuticle picker, and lately my fidgeting has escalated to a point where it's doing damage serious enough that the last doctor I went to noticed it. So today I took a deep breath, cut my fingernails all super-short, and bought myself a fidget toy. It's called a Tangle. Mine is two different ones I took apart and snapped together -- a splatter art one I thought was pretty, and a blue one that has a cool texture. I made the length so it fits around my wrist and I THINK... this is going to be a good solution that I can also take anywhere with me without thinking about it. I have never (knowingly or purposefully) used a fidget toy to take the place of my more self-destructive habits. But I would like to stop measuring my productivity by how many bandaids I have on my hands by morning. So I'm going to try getting used to this thingy. What kinds of fidget devices do you all have? If you've ever tried to break a harmful fidget habit, what did you do and how do you re-focus that energy? :)
Nail-biter, compulsive casual self-harming (which is sometimes a stimmy thing), skin picking. I haven't beaten any of these habits, but having a spinner ring helps with fidgeting a lot. I also have stim putty for when I need to keep my hands occupied!
i do skin/cuticle picking too, and biting/chewing things (my fingers, usually, unless i have my chew toy on hand) the ends of my fingers hurt/itch a lot and fidgeting with stuff helps sometimes. i backed fidgetcube on kickstarter, so im excited for then that comes! i like chew toys that can bend, because then i can use them for hands fidgeting too. ive also looked into buying a tube of dermabond or something so i can get the skin pick sensation without the damage, but i havent gotten around to doing that yet.
Oh, I used to have chew toys! But mine were a little thick for me, so I got the bright idea of trying chewing gum and that worked amazingly.
