Hyperfocus

[TryingtoLearn]

I was thinking it was something great that came from ASD - ability to concentrate vary hard to crack problems noone else could.

But then it has been pointed out how this ability has also held me back in life. I can get fixated on a project and life just passes me by.

But often this ability seems essential to me. E.g. at the moment I seem to be stuck hyperfocsing on 3 things at the same time - getting legal issues sorted, proving local mental health and social services teams utterly screwing me over, while I'm also trying hard to understand what is different about me.

So right now today, if I wasn't hyperfocusing I would never be able to progress on those three serious issues I need to get resolved. But my brain is just totally taken over by these three things so I struggle to do anything else.

I've read a few older posts where other people also seem to be stuck on this - hyperfocusing can seriously seem to hold a person back yet also seems essential for us just to survive.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Hyperfocusing is your superpower.

I have been able to learn so much about the natural world and how to identify plants for food and medicine because of it.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I was thinking it was something great that came from ASD - ability to concentrate vary hard to crack problems noone else could.

But then it has been pointed out how this ability has also held me back in life. I can get fixated on a project and life just passes me by.

But often this ability seems essential to me. E.g. at the moment I seem to be stuck hyperfocsing on 3 things at the same time - getting legal issues sorted, proving local mental health and social services teams utterly screwing me over, while I'm also trying hard to understand what is different about me.

So right now today, if I wasn't hyperfocusing I would never be able to progress on those three serious issues I need to get resolved. But my brain is just totally taken over by these three things so I struggle to do anything else.

I've read a few older posts where other people also seem to be stuck on this - hyperfocusing can seriously seem to hold a person back yet also seems essential for us just to survive.

Luckily, for me, my "special interests", for the most part, will last for several weeks to a few months, then I will move onto something else. Granted I have had some that lasted for years,...and a few for what seems a lifetime. I have had a few special interests that I would describe as "go big or go home",...expensive,...stressfully expensive,...building a race car, creating a custom 200 gallon wall aquarium, installing a home solar energy system and changing to electric cars (which now saves me thousands per year). When I was younger, and at the university,...I was horribly unfocused,...every topic was interesting, yet I couldn't focus upon any of them. It was like I had 3, 4, 5 voices in my head, all demanding the attention, talking over each other,...for a while there, I would just lie in bed, frustrated, do anything but what I was supposed to do. Grades suffered and I just had to put it aside for a while and let my brain "cool off". I have learned the hard way to just focus upon one thing at a time,...and when I do,...it is down to the molecular level,...serious deep dives. However, in doing this, I will exhaust the available knowledge on the topic in a short amount of time,...get frustrated with the lack of information,...and move onto the next topic. One may say, I am extremely "knowledge hungry". I wish, some day, to plug my brain into an A.I. computer and interface with the world wide web,...and download the knowledge of the world.

However, as you say, this ability to focus and concentrate has also led to a level of professional expertise in neonatal respiratory care and neonatal respiratory physiology that, frankly, I've never met my equal,...not anyone with advanced degrees, not anyone a professional conferences, not anyone who has written text books on the subject,...and yes, I have met and spoke with several people like this in my search for more knowledge. Most of the time, I feel like I am speaking Mandarin Chinese to my physicians who, clearly are responsible for lives, clearly are decision makers, and clearly have some knowledge on the topic, but when I open my mouth to express my concerns,...their eyes glaze over like they don't understand. It is very frustrating to watch a team of intelligent, caring neonatologists and pulmonologists fumble around with the life an infant,...for several months in some cases,...only to come up with the conclusion that I came up with in a few seconds,...but never seeming to have any understanding or doing anything to address my concerns. Months later, after they finally discover what I already knew, you feel like a father looking down at a child, dropping my glasses on the tip of my nose, and saying,..."What did you learn today?" But,...they never learn. It's like,..."Why am I here?" I've come so close to throwing up my hands and just walking away from my job,...I try not to be apathetic at this point,...it is very difficult some days.

 

[GadAbout]

Hyperfocus is just another side to OCD. (obsessive compulsive disorder)

If a trait is counterproductive, it gets a pathologized name; if it's productive, it is a positive. And once you have digested that fact, realize that a trait can be both positive and pathological at the same time.

 

[Aspie_With_Attitude]

This is one of my YouTube videos I had recently uploaded onto my channel discussing "Hyper focus" last month.

 

[Bolletje]

Hyperfocus is very useful to me, but it’s also tricky. I am quick and highly productive at work and hobbies because of it. The downside is I get so sucked into whatever it is I’m doing, I forget to take breaks and I don’t notice signs of physical or mental discomfort or fatigue. I frequently overextend myself accidentally.

 

[Thinx]

@Neonatal RRT have you asked the docs what happens for them when you try to communicate? Maybe ask one of them that seems most approachable? This feedback might help you adjust your communication to them, and thus improve the issue of helping the infants?

I hyperfocus, but not as full on as you guys I think. Deep interests, then on to another, but retaining the previous usually.

 

[Aspychata]

This is an interesting topic. I can hyperfocus on the wrong things and have a tinge of guilt. Also can switch from one to another hyperfocus with no break.

In my lifetime, l have hyperfocused on several extremely complicated things and be relieved when finished, yet get bent out of shape over something trivial like the phone ringing.

 

[Martha Ferris]

I can hyper focus deliberately like when I am trying to study and don't have enough time for the regular process. I had to do this when taking classes, working full time plus and raising a family. I also hyperfocus when there is a problem that needs to be solved and I can't let it go until it is. Since I retired I have found that I hyperfocus when I am putting jigsaw puzzles together. Hours can pass without my knowing it. It's kind of scary when that happens.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

@Neonatal RRT have you asked the docs what happens for them when you try to communicate? Maybe ask one of them that seems most approachable? This feedback might help you adjust your communication to them, and thus improve the issue of helping the infants?

I hyperfocus, but not as full on as you guys I think. Deep interests, then on to another, but retaining the previous usually.

Dealing with physicians is an interesting dynamic. Because they are the ones ultimately responsible for the patient, and with that, every decision must go through them. They are pretty much taught from day one that they are "a level above",...and you can interpret that any way you want,...but it is sort of like an aristocrat-to-peasant type of relationship. It doesn't matter what you know,...it is about your role within the hierarchy of the hospital that matters. Having said that, there are people like myself, specialists within a field, with decades of experience and intense study,...people with more knowledge in our little pinky finger than that physician will ever have,...and most physicians will not seek us out as a resource,...that is, not until they are in dire straits, over their heads in trouble with a patient. By then, often it is too late. Having sat in on many physician-level lectures and professional conferences, and dealing with the physician team for decades,...most have just enough knowledge to get themselves in trouble. However, you can't tell them that, out of professional respect. You just have to tactfully intervene to protect the patient from time to time. The other thing, which I find rather interesting,...most physicians will be quick to say they value hard data and clinically significant statistical analysis,...yet when it goes against their patient care plan for the day, or worse, "standard of care", they don't want to hear it. They will drive that car a 100 miles/hr, through the barricades, and off the cliff no matter how much you try to stop them. At this point, I am about 6-8 years from retirement,...I just want to teach as much as I can to the younger generations,... and I am out-the-door. I have long given up on beating my head against the wall.

 

[Thinx]

Dealing with physicians is an interesting dynamic. Because they are the ones ultimately responsible for the patient, and with that, every decision must go through them. They are pretty much taught from day one that they are "a level above",...and you can interpret that any way you want,...but it is sort of like an aristocrat-to-peasant type of relationship. It doesn't matter what you know,...it is about your role within the hierarchy of the hospital that matters. Having said that, there are people like myself, specialists within a field, with decades of experience and intense study,...people with more knowledge in our little pinky finger than that physician will ever have,...and most physicians will not seek us out as a resource,...that is, not until they are in dire straits, over their heads in trouble with a patient. By then, often it is too late. Having sat in on many physician-level lectures and professional conferences, and dealing with the physician team for decades,...most have just enough knowledge to get themselves in trouble. However, you can't tell them that, out of professional respect. You just have to tactfully intervene to protect the patient from time to time. The other thing, which I find rather interesting,...most physicians will be quick to say they value hard data and clinically significant statistical analysis,...yet when it goes against their patient care plan for the day, or worse, "standard of care", they don't want to hear it. They will drive that car a 100 miles/hr, through the barricades, and off the cliff no matter how much you try to stop them. At this point, I am about 6-8 years from retirement,...I just want to teach as much as I can to the younger generations,... and I am out-the-door. I have long given up on beating my head against the wall.

I thought that might be it. This is why progress is so slow in the neurotypical dominated world. And also how they show they don't understand ethics. It must be heart breaking. Could you write a book? Of your knowledge and/or of how it is there?

 

[Martha Ferris]

Dealing with physicians is an interesting dynamic. Because they are the ones ultimately responsible for the patient, and with that, every decision must go through them. They are pretty much taught from day one that they are "a level above",...and you can interpret that any way you want,...but it is sort of like an aristocrat-to-peasant type of relationship. It doesn't matter what you know,...it is about your role within the hierarchy of the hospital that matters. Having said that, there are people like myself, specialists within a field, with decades of experience and intense study,...people with more knowledge in our little pinky finger than that physician will ever have,...and most physicians will not seek us out as a resource,...that is, not until they are in dire straits, over their heads in trouble with a patient. By then, often it is too late. Having sat in on many physician-level lectures and professional conferences, and dealing with the physician team for decades,...most have just enough knowledge to get themselves in trouble. However, you can't tell them that, out of professional respect. You just have to tactfully intervene to protect the patient from time to time. The other thing, which I find rather interesting,...most physicians will be quick to say they value hard data and clinically significant statistical analysis,...yet when it goes against their patient care plan for the day, or worse, "standard of care", they don't want to hear it. They will drive that car a 100 miles/hr, through the barricades, and off the cliff no matter how much you try to stop them. At this point, I am about 6-8 years from retirement,...I just want to teach as much as I can to the younger generations,... and I am out-the-door. I have long given up on beating my head against the wall.

 

[Martha Ferris]

I understand your frustration. I was in the health care field, first as a nurse and then as a Respiratory Therapist for nearly 40 years. Having worked in small hospitals throughout that time I became somewhat of a jack of all trades so to speak.
I think what you are missing is that everyone is a human being first before they are anything else. Doctors are no different. There are many factors that come into play and that impact the choices people make. While you are extremely focused on your profession and excellence that is not the driving force for a good many others in the field.
I was chair of a patient and staff experience improvement initiative at one of the hospitals where I was employed. To see what direction we needed to go in I did a survey of the staff. To my surprise the primary reason for most of the health care providers for being in the field was that health care presented stable employment and the money was good. Few even mentioned any altruistc reasons or if they did it was farther down on the list of reasons. For me altruism was by far my primary purpose.
I also was a learner and continued to reach educational goals throughout my career. In all the places I worked that was not the case of others including Respiratory Therapists. They had their degree and license and they were good to go. As an instructor, for a while, it was like pulling teeth to get others to meet the level of excellence I demanded of myself even when it meant life or death for the patient. It was very discouraging for me. How do you get people to care?
I went into each situation trying to catch the mistakes made by other providers that threatened the health and lives of our patients. That was all I could do. Be the best I could be not for myself but for my patients. That being said I hoped that other providers would catch my mistakes as well. That is part of being a team. It is a gray area dealing with other people and everything that is in their makeup and not as cut and dried as we would like it to be. People don't stay "within the lines" so to speak.
We aren't going to change others, it is what it is, but we can do what we can to protect our patients.
I have seen a lot of egos in the health care system over the years and in my opinion egos have no place there. Regardless of how many times I was credited with saving somones life I never forgot that I could make a mistake and harm or kill someone at any given moment. Another thing was to keep in mind my purpose for being in the field. Was it for recognition or was it to help others? I went with help others every time and left my ego at the door.
Doing the best you can is all that you can do. If you can say at the end of the day that you did your very best throughout the day then be content with that. Serenity prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

[Ms Muffinz]

I don’t know if what I am doing is hyperfocus or just “normal” focus. How do you tell?
Hours will go by, when to me it only feels like a couple of minutes when I am focused on something. But I thought this was something non-autistic people experience too.
It happens to me when I am on a forum site like this, or playing a specific video game. I rarely touch the game for fear of wasting half a day on it.

And do you have any tips on how to “get into” hyperfocus?

 

[Gracey]

A trigger.

Bare with me on the following :
I once had a highly intelligent Dobermann. His prey drive was his version of 'hyperfocus'.
Once triggered he was unaware of anything else around him save the object he was hunting/tracking.
He could run through barbed wire fences, get tangled in brambles and escape, he once pulled off the hard casing on one of his claws after his foot got stuck in rocks.

All of those incidents just slowed him down temporarily in his pursuit of his prey. He couldn't feel or hear anything once triggered.

I'm not suggesting humans are dogs. Merely offering an observation on how, to me, the process of hyperfocus wasn't too dissimilar to my old Dobermann's prey drive and he required a trigger to switch his on.

I'm guessing the human trigger might be curiosity initially.
And from there losing yourself in the available information. Living and breathing the subject. Aware of little else.
(just my opinion)

 

[foliodoe]

Writing has been my hyperfocus, for better or worse. It's the only thing that makes me feel like my life is worth living day-to-day. If I'm struggling, I can find value in it by using it for inspiration in my writing. If I want someone to get to know me, I can share my writing with them. It's how I prove my worth to others. It's everything to me.

But you raise a great point. I have never been able to shift that focus to anything else. It's the only thing that makes me happy and adds meaning to my life. That's a beautiful thing, but it can also be very limiting.