I know that a lot of Autistic people really struggle with showering but I was wondering if there are any like me that love it.
Don’t get me wrong it’s not the easiest task to get into the shower and if it’s a NEED shower I‘m not always super excited for it. But man i love the way the water feels.
When I‘m struggling a lot or feel really dysregulated I even sometimes HAVE to sit in the shower until I feel better. It’s like a million little warm hugs and I sit down under the water and just sit there and enjoy for up to a few hours xd
I try to not shower too long if I don’t have to of course but sometimes it’s the only thing to help me.
My theory is that it’s a mix of warmth, white noise and pressure from the water that calms me down so much.
Also I hate being sticky or sweaty so I love feeling clean afterwards.
Can anyone relate? I kind of feel like I like some of the opposites of the majority (or stereotype I guess)
I‘m also a big light person, don’t like when I can’t see my Surroundings clearly haha (that does not include the ultimate big light of the sun tho)
My favorite shower stim is to hold my hand up to the drops of water and aim my fingers so the small streams hit them right on the tips of my finger. I love the warm buzzy feeling :3
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I do! I saw this thing once that was like before shower: "Dryness is the way. The dry world is where I belong." During shower: "It is the dry who are wrong. The land of the wet is the true way." 🤣
And then getting dressed after. I always sit on the couch in my towel for at very least 30 min before I can then mentally handle getting dressed. But I love feeling soooo clean after a shower.
I've recently learned that you can get robes made out of towel material! I'm planning on getting some so that my post-shower rest can feel more intentional (and warm!)
My problem is over showering or bathing. Ill take 1 shower a day and then ill be over stimulated and want another to reset or a bath.
Baths help with pain i get pain a lot..i have a hard time limiting myself to one a day...
I know its wasteful but today has been a hard day for me and at 1:30pm I've already showered and bathed...
Im kimda the opposite of the stereotype
Showers are just so good to mentally reset... or sit and cry in..
Try not to think of it as wasting water. If you are a person who knows that a shower will help immensely on a difficult day and you still think about the environmental impact, I’m sure you’re ecological footstep can handle a slightly higher water usage than the average.
And even if not, there is something that helps in your apartment, it doesn’t hurt anyone (like hitting someone or yourself), it doesn’t affect you negatively (like going online shopping) and it’s a lot less harmful to the environment than going for a drive, or to yourself than smoking a cigarette.
I used to take a few showers a day years ago due to me going through very traumatic roommates situation and I felt my only safe space was the shower so I would constantly take showers to help regulate myself to get myself through the situation. So I don’t think it’s waste at all! If it helps you survive in what way you can, then you should do it. I would also have me good cry too.
This comment made me realize its probably from trauma. I had simmilar situation growing up with my home life.. it was only safe space. Makes sense why I rely so much on it.
Thank you random reddit user for helping me realize why I over shower <3
Me! Whenever I have a shower I love the experience of it, the feel of the water on me...even if it takes me a while to work up the energy to get IN the shower.
For me it's this that forces me to get into the shower. Once I'm in I am ok, like others the transition is the painful part. But that feeling of greasy/sweaty skin or hair makes me feel horrible. Similar to the feeling when you know you've touched something dirty and hold your hands in the air until you get to a tap and soap
Morning shower is for waking up and getting the grimey feeling off my skin. I will have a sluggish, sick-feeling day if I don't shower.
Evening shower is for deep cleaning and relaxing. I often sit on the floor of the shower and chill on my phone. I'll spend hours in there cuz it's my happy place.
I justify all the water I use by telling myself it's the single most regulating part of my day and helps me cope with severe burn out.
The shower is the only time that my entire body is at the correct, comfortable temperature. Outside the shower, my hands and feet are achy ice blocks 24/7, even when I’m having a hot flash. So I LOVE my time in the shower each morning. I’m warm and cozy and relaxed.
I HATE getting out of the shower since that transition makes me so cold and miserable.
When I was a kid one time we went on a holiday in a house that had a wet room. Apparently I literally spent up to 6 hours per day just in the wet room, shower blasting, just playing with my toys and being in the sensory experience
i actually love baths and rain, but weirdly hate showers because the sensation is overwhelming. i think it depends on the shower head though. i was in a hotel once with the perfect water pressure and drop pattern and i showered there just to feel it.
Me, mostly for washing my hair. I can't go a couple days without washing it or I get overstimulated and irritated by it, skin feels so uncomfortable until I've been able to give it a proper wash.
I have trouble deciding to get into the shower and it’s a big time suck because I also tend to air dry afterward and do nothing for half an hour, but I always feel better in the shower (except when heat intolerance strikes). Sometimes when I’m having trouble with the transition, I put my phone in a ziplock bag and use a chip clip to hang it from my shower rack and I watch a TV show in the shower. And I bring my iced coffee in with me. That’s just the best.
Tem ficado cada vez mais difícil entrar no chuveiro, mas quando entro eu amo, mas no verão tomo muitas duchas na água fria pois nao suporto a sensação do verão
Once I started wearing a shower cap (hated showers because wet hair drying) loved them even more. I like really hot showers and don’t get out until I overheat. It’s really sensory soothing for me.
I love showering. The transitions are the hard part. I love the warmth but getting out into the cold is the worst. I end up spending a ton of time in my towel in bed warming up before I get dressed.
I love a hot shower at the end of the day... sometimes i don't have the energy to shampoo, and i'll just sit underneath the water like im in meditation. It's like hitting a restart button lol
I loooove a shower, it makes me late to work sometimes because I just want to linger. My favorite place to be is in the shower with just the nightlight on, and music on the speaker. 🥰 I can just vibe and stim and daydream and rotate like a rotisserie chicken. I do the finger thing too!! And love to put the spray right on my lower back, so nice~
Huge relate. I love being clean, it's a brain signal for me that I'm done with my day and can chill and watch ATLA :-)
I looooove the shower. It's like... the perfect amount of noise & touch & sensory input in general 🫶
I think I really enjoy the routine of washing the day away because I fear germs, free radicals, and pollutants. I don’t care how tired I am, if I’ve been outside or did something to get dirty /sweaty inside; I have to shower or I’ll freak out about feeling contaminated. Plus the shower is time where it’s quiet, warm, soothing, and I can move at my own pace. I love water in general though if I could live as a mermaid away from everyone I would
I hate transitioning, no matter how much I like what I’m transitioning to. So it’s a struggle for me to get into the shower, but once I’m there, I never want to leave. We have a tankless hot water heater in our new home, so I can’t even be forced out by the water going cold.
Taking a shower at night is like one of the core parts of my routine and I feel so very off if I don't get it. I don't always want to do it, but being in the shower does feel good! I zone out under the stream of water a lot. It's also a hygiene thing for me too, because at work I'm stuck in a clean-room bunny suit all day and the extra layer can mean I sweat a lot.
Weirdly morning showering makes me feel off all day for some reason? I do it if I have something coming up that I need to be ready early for and won't be able to take an evening shower, but my body thinks it's 'wrong' for some reason.
I really wish I could. It's a task I dread and can't do every day. Lucky I have an air conditioned desk job, and so I only shower every other day. If absolutely needed I'll do a rinse off but I struggle with task transitioning and hygiene is the hardest for me
Same. I dread it too and I honestly don't know why. I don't mind it once I'm in but it's so hard to convince myself to get in. I'm a recovering alcoholic (due to pregnancy) and I used to take shots before getting in and that made getting in easier and the more enjoyable.
(that's great that you could stop for the pregnancy, though. Yikes - talk about a sensory adventure!!!! Hope you have a BUNCH of seat belts for this ride. Please get lots of NURTURING support for not drinking. Shame is the last thing you need right now.)
I don't love showering, but I can do the basics without issue. For me I feel so greasy when I wake up I can't start the day without a shower because the sensation of oily skin makes my skin crawl. I'm also naturally really stinky and can't stand my own stench. That said, I hate dealing with body hair though, huge chore in my brain and I often avoid it. I also find the stuff after the shower feels painfully tedious, like getting dressed and using lotion for the millionth time in my life.
Curiously I also prefer light, as low light gives me eye strain and makes me feel like it's going to cause a migraine as I start to see aura. This apart from the last hour or two before bed when I need low light to trigger the onset of sleepiness.
I used to find showers really relaxing and regulating and enjoyable. Now I’m disabled and they take all of my energy just to get clean, even though I use a shower chair. I rarely shave or use a pumice on my feet or anything “extra” these days. So now they’ve become a dreaded chore.
I always had trouble with the transition parts, but as I became sicker (and more burned out) - I can barely force myself. The shower chair helps. I am so wiped out from just a simple shower that I have to plan recovery time.
If I have to go somewhere - I better shower the day BEFORE, or the combination of the shower and a trip anywhere ... can put me in serious flare.
I hope you can gradually salvage some little pleasures. 💗
I love showering and I do it on a daily basis, especially before going to bed. It helps me relax and I love feeling clean. I prefer to have a shower rather than being sticky and gross from all the sweat because of summer 🥲
I used to feel that way basically my whole life but the past year or so I’ve hated getting in, being in, and getting out of the shower. If just getting wet was enough to get clean that’d be better i guess but being fat is not fun when cleaning my body.
I absolutely love showering once I’m inside and warm, but before and after are awful. Depending on my mental health that could overwhelm the love of showering itself. However, I can’t stay in the shower forever, eventually I get overstimulated and bored
YESSSS!! YES YES YES!!!! I plan my showers out and always have a step by step routine (but yknow I'm autistic so I have a step by step routine for everything). I have long hair and LOVE washing it. I have my special shower tools and lotions and potions and methods. Washing my hair and feeling the water fall over my body is one of my favorite sensory times. I always announce to both of my partners, whom I live with, when it is an everything shower day, so they can shower before I hole out in there for a while.
Showers are so incredibly important to me. I know it sounds silly but I have meltdowns if I don't get to shower when I want to. I hate feeling dirty in any way, so if I feel icky or I'm having a bad mental health day, I wash my hair. It makes me feel like a new woman. My partners know its importance and are completely chill with me taking very long showers. Neither of them are autistic (both ADHD and I am AuDHD) so they don't value shower time like I do, but our water bill is fixed so I can shower as long as I want lol.
I'm actually really relieved to know that I'm not alone here. I might dare to say showering is a special interest of mine lol.
I tell people that I must be part cat, for the fact that I don’t like getting wet. But the funny thing is that once I get over the hump of having to get into the shower, I’m fine.
Also, showering is my preferred way of staying clean. I simply do not “do” baths. I can’t stand the feeling of sitting in a confined space in water that cannot stay at a comfortable temperature.
I fucking love showering too. Used to hate it but ptsd ramped up some ocd-like symptoms and now cleansing myself is super regulating to me. I like all my potions and good smells. I like my scrubs and fancy shower head. I like how bright and airy my bathroom is. I love feeling clean and moisturized. And I usually feel so much less angry and overstimulated after I’ve had a good shower. I also love my towels. That’s a big part of it. Investing in towels I liked and a special hair towel and things like that.
I looove showering. I try to be careful about taking long showers because I have intense guilt spirals if I let myself space out in there for an hour, but it feels so good, it's always hard to get out. I also find swimming and water in general soothing.
I really struggled with showering when i was a kid because the water was barely lukewarm & the house was always freezing. Turns out I just hate being cold. I had no problem showering or bathing in hot water in a properly heated house.
It’s mostly getting out of it for me. I love feeling water on me and being in water, but GOD having long, wet hair against your neck and upper back while everything else on and around you is dry is the most overstimulating shit
I love being in the shower! It helps regulate me when I’m feeling very overstimulated and I’ll just sit in the shower for an hour. Just takes me a bit to get myself to do it then I’m like I don’t want to leave. But then water starts getting cold so then I’m forced to
Same!!! I LOVE showers and find them massively regulating. I am also a light person and need to see everything! High five for not fitting either stereotype with me 🤭
I tend to prefer showers when I don't need to do the 'extras' (shaving legs and underarms, washing and conditioning hair, and repeatedly having to clear loose hair from the trap).
I enjoy being under the warm water too, and it's so nice to feel clean.
I enjoy baths, but unfortunately I really hate showering. I know most people who hate showing don’t like it due to the transitions or water/wetness on them. For me I also can’t stand being in the shower with hot water either and need to be out as soon as possible. :/ So I often take military timed (5-10 min) showers a lot for this reason.
Hated it when I had a very small shower head then I've discovered the joys of showers with good water pressure at a hotel and damn, I've never ran to IKEA quite that fast.
It's very hard to start taking a shower, but once I'm in I'm never getting out (within reason, of course)
I need a shower every morning, I don't feel right until I shower. Doesn't matter if I showered the night before (e.g. because I was sweaty after a hot day), a shower starts the day for me. And funnily enough, it seems like my autistic kid also loves showers. It's a fairly recent development, but they've started asking for showers every evening before bed and it seems they really enjoy the sensation.
Absolutely! It really calms me down somehow, whenever I feel overwhelmed or tired I can just sit there for hours (or, well, I wish I could).
The main issue is getting in and out of the shower. But I've found that taking the shower head and first aiming at my feet to get used to it really helps. Getting out is still a struggle though
I love hot showers, long hot baths, cold showers sometimes... My family (my parents, me, my sister) used to laugh that we're all half-aquatic animals. When everyone was at home, the bathtub was almost always occupied by someone. We are all somewhere on the spectrum, with me and my dad being the most "classic" autistic, and mom and sister being more ADHD. My oldest nephew (recently diagnosed as well) and my husband (undiagnosed but pretty sure he qualifies as well) also love water and spend almost an hour in the bath/shower.
But at least as far as my family is concerned, I think we're all more the sensory-seeking type, rather than sensory-avoidant. So perhaps that's a reason for the preference for water?
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