• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

How long do your special interests last?

Psychology and psychopharmacology, for eight years. Days and night and days again spent on it. Could've just gotten an actual PHD in that time, would've probably had better results too. Meh, but now I can't hardly stand to read a paper or article, I don't know how to describe it beyond fatiguing; it's just like *ugh*

Between that, a cumulative total of couple years each on sociology, anthropology, and brief stints (several months) on epistimology and philosophy (though I'd like to note that Hawking believes philosophy is dead and I agree with his reasoning). Of course, with the whole enchilada came necessary studies in related fields, notably game theory and logic in general. These secondary fields held knowledge necessary to understanding whatever it was in the world of psychology I was stuck on in that time.

All this was in pursuit of understanding the world around me. Now I kinda feel like I do (even though I'm sure I'm wrong about that), and I've just lost interest. I guess I'm between interests right now, you could say.

To answer the thread title, my special interest tend to last quite a while.
 
my special interest last quite a long time. currently, i am still interested in the Byzantine Empire, which has been my interest since at least 2010.
 
Do have any others? To an equal or lesser degree?

i was interested in Titanic and Star trek for the longest times. both are still maintained. sort of. i also acquired a recent interest in Cyprus (and Greece, and Turkey). there were others, but they tend to be short term, like World war two, 9/11 for a time, history in general, pokemon, repeatedly, some foods, slurpees, and so on.

also, the ultimate obsession: the Mathalamus Empire.
 
I started doing photography as a hobby fairly seriously in October 2004... 13 years later I'm still hard at it, have no plans to stop... I'm pretty much a semi-pro photographer these days, it's not my job and I make occasional money from it...
 
My main and most special interest is Star Wars, and I've been obsessing over it since I was four years old.

I don't think I'm ever going to part ways with it, it's been a world of wonder and magic for me in the darkest of times... and a means of escape when no other option was available.
 
Years at minimum. Years and years in other cases. For things I collect, once my collection is complete, then plan to enjoy the collection for years and years, if not a lifetime.
 
I dig things up and have since I was a child, I still have the very first one; an intact chinese tang dynasty chopstick tray. After that it was pottery and fossils, and rocks and metal objects, arrowheads, stone spear heads. Still do it, and still find fossils and have for most of my life. Along with drawing, and reading and cycling. Those have been the long term interests.

For some time, it was studying people, and their behaviour. The I moved on to study botany and plant identification and biology. I was interested in clothes, and pop music and gymnastics, boxing and taekwondo for a good part of my life, I still do the kicks and punches and blocks. Making jewellery and selling it, and food, creating food that people liked when I worked. Before that I made and sold art and other peoples as well.
 
Last edited:
Well, I had one for about 20 years that I (relatively) recently gave up. Still trying to get on track for another as life has gotten a tad boring.
 
I have been infatuated with figurative arts (drawing/sculpture) since my teens. It reaches into related interests like anatomy (more precisely, eidonomy) & zoology.

More HERE...
 
Last edited:
I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out how to stick with something that I really want to succeed at. My interests last a few weeks to a couple of months and sometimes circle back around. For example, my last big one was Japanese, started it for a couple of months, went to something else, came back to it with a vengeance and made a lot of progress and then petered out again.
 
I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out how to stick with something that I really want to succeed at. My interests last a few weeks to a couple of months and sometimes circle back around. For example, my last big one was Japanese, started it for a couple of months, went to something else, came back to it with a vengeance and made a lot of progress and then petered out again.

If I may, and I have to remind myself of this sometimes, don't worry about how successful you become at anything... If it's something that relaxes you, that you enjoy, then simply do it...
 
If I may, and I have to remind myself of this sometimes, don't worry about how successful you become at anything... If it's something that relaxes you, that you enjoy, then simply do it...

Good advice. I'm thinking in terms of a profession though, I've been craving one most of my life.
 
Good advice. I'm thinking in terms of a profession though, I've been craving one most of my life.

Depending on what it is, it might be challenging to do that, statistically few people work in a job they love, not to say that that isn't a noble goal... I would still suggest developing your interests no matter what, even if it's after work hours, whatever work you do...
 
Linguistics are my strength, or so says the tests. Not particularly marketable for me. Science is my passion, or rather the scope into which my passions fall. I don't work anyway and probably won't unless it's in the 'special interest' zone. I spend the majority of my time obsessing or daydreaming, there's no real in-between. I just need to learn how to focus, the hyperfocus. I think... I may be a bit idealistic..I'm an infp after all.XD
 
For me, it completely depends. I've had special interests that have lasted for years, and some for only a few months. Lately I feel as though my special interests have become much more fleeting.

I recently switched my major from Biology to English after realizing that I wasn't into Biology as much as I used to be, and the idea of having a career in it indefinitely made me miserable. Eventually, maybe ten or fifteen years from now, I would like to become a published author, assuming I'll be able to stick to something for that long. But for the near future, all I want is to get a job that pays decent, isn't soul sucking, and allows me to have free time to pursue my interests on the side. :)
 

New Threads

Top Bottom