Fidget toys have become a growing addiction for all ages. Whether you see them as just a toy or an actual helpful mechanism, my take on them is this: because of these handy gadgets, I am able to be a better version of my anxious self without being isolated from everyday situations.
For those reading this that live under a rock, or don’t follow the trends of today, fidget toys are simple handheld gadgets with various sensory aspects to help a person focus better. I’ve seen a lot of articles claiming it mostly helps students in classrooms that suffer from ADD, attention deficit disorder. Even so, many people see them only as toys and a distracting toy as well.
As a student who does not suffer from ADD, I don’t see how these toys help. In fact, I understand how these toys would be a huge distraction to teachers trying to educate while a hypnotic spinner slides across a desk. But then again, I am not the student with ADD, so I couldn’t speak on their behalf about how these toys help improve their focus or grades.
As a student who does suffer from anxiety, I can give plenty of cases where these toys would have helped me gather myself after or during a panic attack- inside and outside of the classroom walls.
Triggers for me usually have to do with an excessive work load, lots of people, and sometimes loud noises. Sometimes, I don’t even have a trigger and will randomly get anxious for what seems like no reason at all. Regardless, sometimes these things are completely unavoidable in life.
When my anxiety heightens and my mind wanders to its darkest corners, the only thing to calm me is distractions. I have a number of arcade-style games on my phone to help with this, but of course, I can’t be attached to a screen when I’m at work or school. At tough times like these, I’d find things to do with my hands to help, such as flipping the cap on a travel sized lotion or twisting the cap on and off a lip balm in my pocket. If I was lucky, I had a pen and paper and would be able to doodle circles until I felt better.
All of these were great alternatives from my phone until the skin on my thumbs started to peel off and bleed due to excessive amounts of this "cap fidgeting". Because of this, I purchased a fidget spinner, not really sure of its worth but knowing it sounded cool enough to try once.
Not only has this “toy” given me the ability to focus in on a rotating circle while still giving me something to mess around with in my hands, but the metal around it usually stays cool. Cool things also help calm my anxiety, especially when it’s really bad and I get extremely hot because of it. I also found that the trance I fall into when playing with the spinner calms me down faster than any other fidgeting that I’ve done before.
This quick distraction and relaxing aspect allows me to lessen my anxiety and get me back on my feet with whatever tasks at hand. In addition, I’m able to continue working through some anxious moments because of the compact size of these spinners, and the small toy fitting perfectly in my hands.
All of these factors together give a new meaning to the fidgets. It might be a distraction at first, but it’s much more useful than that in hindsight. My spinner has been the best distraction for me since I got it, calming me down when I wasn’t allowed to leave my station at work to take 10 minutes on my phone.
Some people see fidgets as a total waste of time and money, but I honestly see them as therapeutic and helpful in so many ways. Fidgets help more than just focus problems, and they are valuable. They might not be of use to everyone, and with higher functioning anxiety I would not rely on them, but they work for me and I know I'm not the only one that feels this way.
To the makers of these various fidgeting mechanisms, you created such a hypnotic, calming distraction. And I'm so thankful for that.
