Roberta Klatzky, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, calls this proposed explanation "extremely simple and elegant." Its complicated. The findings suggest to Souman that the reason people occasionally walk in circles involves the brain. Anyone else have an urge to walk around while studying? 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Your dog could be walking in circles due to stress or anxiety. Please make a tax-deductible gift today. Stimming: What Is It and Does it Matter? If you do stim, try to keep track of when and why you do it. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses in the U.S., affecting 40 million people. References. 14. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. For example, when Carol finds herself at a social gathering that starts to get loud, she quickly feels over-stimulated. Indeed, one of the volunteers, known only as KS, took part in both experiments and while he had the strongest directional bias while blindfolded, he actually veered in the opposite direction in the forest. It can also help you sleep better. AskMayoExpert. Let them know that you accept them for who they are. This can help you understand your own behavior and find ways to minimize or avoid stimming when it's not necessary or might be disruptive. It can involve anything from making repetitive movements to saying specific words or phrases over and over again. When people can see where they're going, however, it's a different story. Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There may be a lot of extra motor activity in ADHD. This is why pacing is so important. The reason that humans walk in a circle is simple: when they are lost. If your child has any of these additional symptoms, they would likely benefit from treatment. Just think about Frodo and Sams hike through Mordor or the three hapless teens in the Blair Witch Project. "I know a dog that was in a shelter for years," says Ellis, "and when he is stressed, he goes back to that crate spinning." Dogs, just like people, can also have OCD.