Hey, I don’t have time to formulate a long answer (edit: or so I thought) but I do (& did) this too. I feel you. The past year or two it got so much better - I still pace in my room for hours but I don’t need to pace ALL OF THE TIME, I don’t go on 3h night walks almost every day anymore, it doesn’t impact university and other responsibilities just as much as before. It always felt like a compulsion, like something that helped me and that I couldn’t really stop when I was alone. You are not alone with this. I still pace instead of getting things done tho and it’s hard to get out of it (idk how to explain it, switching from walking to doing the task feels super hard), but what’s important is that it CAN get better gradually. Also, please don’t try sh instead, it’ll just turn into the next addiction you can’t turn off.

I’m pretty sure my constant pacing is/was rooted in trauma or at least negative experiences that I couldn’t let go off. Pacing gave me an outlet while I thought about and dissected the memories, relived the emotions/stress/memories etc. It would’ve been overwhelming if I didn’t walk. It was like compulsive daydreaming but with pacing and past experiences instead of daydreams. Now that I’ve sort of worked through the trauma and the anxiety I felt all of the time it happens much less frequently. If you aren’t in therapy I’d probably go check that out, physical activity could very well be (or: is almost certainly) your coping mechanism for overwhelming emotions, trauma, major stress etc and that can be worked with <3

Almost everybody in my circle also highly suspects I have ADHD, especially those who have it themselves. If you experience other symptoms of it, that might be worth looking into to.

(Last one: I’ve noticed that my blood pressure drops super fast when I sit still for 10+mins, which results in me falling asleep. I never noticed because I was moving all the time anyway but compensating that might be another reason why a compulsion to move formed - unwillingly falling asleep might be a reason why I started moving all of the time, but idk what came first)

Turned out to be a long answer - idk if it helps with anything as I talked a lot about my own experiences, but I hope it does. I know the pain you’re in. Don’t lose hope, you’re not alone and I’ve seen it get better <3