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Obsessions

leehart

leehart

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I'm aware Asperger's can have a hyper focus on things. I'm curious as I about this as I tendto home in on things and become really immersed in them.

I wonder if this can become an issue of tension for anyone? By that I mean there is something my mind is locked onto and it's tiring me out! It's slightly stressful pondering it and I'm aware it's a bit of a waste of time but keep going back to it. Does that make any sense at all?
 
I’m currently obsessed with a video game. I play it every day and am on my third consecutive playthrough. My boyfriend gets a little annoyed because I keep telling him about how great it is and how he should play it too so we can talk about it.
 
Thanks, mines seem to centre around tech though politics can become it too. For a bit it was which ecosystem to use...Google Microsoft or apple (calendar,docs, email etc) and I went round and round in circles and it got really frustrating.

Now it's building about next phone and the same thing, it's getting annoying already.

Have done it with games too...for a while it was clash royale, loved that game..

Really helpful to hear others experiences about the focus and not being able to easily shift it.
 
I used to become suicidal because work was keeping me from my special interest. Now my work is my special interest. Ha! :D
 
My obsession seems to be writing, and analyzing everything, line by line, and through much rational and detailed thought. I have written four books, and I want to do another as I have many new ideas, but it can be draining constantly thinking about it, as I know I have other daily responsibilities then that would get moved aside. It would frustrate me wanting to do something, but knowing I cannot do such now.

I like analyzing problematic societal issues, human behaviors, self-help concepts, and everything about my past, and things in my present and my desired future. That can get draining at times too, with that fixated need to either be that precise, detailed or perfect, and with solutions often needed in my mind for such, but perhaps that hyper focus just cannot be reduced or changed, and my mind needs that to be challenged.

I try to focus on the positives though of my narrowed interests, regardless how time consuming and challenging.
 
Sometimes being on the spectrum leads you to fear getting engulfed in a special interest because you wonder how much it will consume you.
Like we need hats: Caution - Aspie construction zone, enter at your own risk.

I have obsessions with ballet, tribal bellydance, tap dance, but l dislike modern dance. Not into salsa either, but l will watch ballroom dancing. There is one other form l like also which has gained popularity.

I enjoy trying out different linux software which l could do every month with Haking magazine. When l was leaving the marriage, he stole all my haking magazines, l was so sad because another strange obession was reading coding examples in it. How about a GoFundMe campaign to send him to Siberia with a small pension and no internet access?
 
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Yes I get obsessed with things, often they are useless things like earworms or lines from movies. The earworms in particular are the most annoying. I also hyper focus on chatting and games as well.
 
I've got an obsession or two (see my signature)

It is a good way to mostly stay out of trouble in a good way, but I do have a tendency to let that obsession take up way too much of my life sometimes, and if I don't watch it...
 
One of my special interests is coffee and it's great because making/drinking coffee is one of the fastest ways for me to calm down. Sure, I waste a lot of time looking at coffee makers I don't have money to buy (plus I already have a nice one), and there's no practical point in memorizing the caffeine breakdown pathway in humans, but I figure I have to spend my free time doing something, so why not that. The other day I was talking about coffee with one of my friends and instead of her getting annoyed by it, she was actually asking follow up questions to what I was saying! It was so wonderful.
 
I tend to have extreme character obsessions myself. I'll find some character I like, decide I like them *alot*, and then just get constantly obsessive about them and things related to them. No, I dont know why, but this has always been my tendency. It's one of the reasons why I'm into cosplay and such.

I've shown some of these characters at random intervals on the forums, I believe. But yeah, that's my most intense form of obsession. Not to mention the one that can be more than a bit embarrassing.


Aside from that, video games are my primary interest, though I dont talk about those as much since even among other gamers my likes/dislikes rarely align with anyone. I can sometimes get really obsessive about a single game.

I'm finding it's also happening with board games, now that I've jumped into that.
 
Aspychata said:
Sometimes being on the spectrum leads you to fear getting engulfed in a special interest because you wonder how much it will consume you.
Like we need hats: Caution - Aspie construction zone, enter at your own risk.

I have obsessions with ballet, tribal bellydance, tap dance, but l dislike modern dance. Not into salsa either, but l will watch ballroom dancing. There is one other form l like also which has gained popularity.

I enjoy trying out different linux software which l could do every month with Haking magazine. When l was leaving the marriage, he stole all my haking magazines, l was so sad because another strange obession was reading coding examples in it. How about a GoFundMe campaign to send him to Siberia with a small pension and no internet access?
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My obsession seems to be reading ,through that I’ve learned the stages that happen when you get divorced and you are autistic
 
Fino said:
I used to become suicidal because work was keeping me from my special interest. Now my work is my special interest. Ha! :D
Click to expand...
sorry You sent up a marker when you said suicidal are you still getting suicidal now that your special interest is work
 
leehart said:
I'm aware Asperger's can have a hyper focus on things. I'm curious as I about this as I tendto home in on things and become really immersed in them.

I wonder if this can become an issue of tension for anyone? By that I mean there is something my mind is locked onto and it's tiring me out! It's slightly stressful pondering it and I'm aware it's a bit of a waste of time but keep going back to it. Does that make any sense at all?
Click to expand...
Yep it's OCD ,I have it with helping people and looking at products,info.
 
leehart said:
I'm aware Asperger's can have a hyper focus on things. I'm curious as I about this as I tendto home in on things and become really immersed in them.

I wonder if this can become an issue of tension for anyone?
Click to expand...

You could say that! :eek:

Being formally diagnosed with OCD, at times it can be quite a burden. That in a nutshell, being potentially obsessive about anything and everything. :(

Though in my own case I recognize that OCD is comorbid to my autism. That it's OCD that is predominant in this instance, and not necessarily having ASD. I suppose there are members of our community that while clearly being autistic, may not have any traits and behaviors reflecting OCD or OCPD.

As I've said in a number of posts over the years, when I close my front door and am totally alone, my autism is not really an issue. No one to interact with or make social errors with. But my OCD? That follows me around like a puppy whether I'm surrounded by people or totally alone.
 
My obsessions can absolutely be all-consuming (I prefer the term “obsession” over “special interest for a reason, though I use the latter if I’m concerned about offending other people on the autism spectrum by calling them that, but for me, that’s what they are, plain and simple). Sometimes that’s a good thing, since I’m prone to depression that can get very severe. Sometimes I can dive head-first into an obsession to escape the depression. But the really annoying thing is that I seem to have little to no control over my obsessions, so I get them when I don’t want them and lose them when I do want them, and sometimes I even become obsessed with things I don’t actually like, or even actively dislike.
 
My special interests seem to be repetitive. I will find a musical or TV show and listen to every song or watch every episode hundreds of times for a few weeks. Sometimes it really isolates me and I don’t even realize it.
I have found that timers essential for me. After the timer goes off I have to step away and ask myself if I have any needs or responsibilities. If not, then I can get sucked in.
Special interests are the kind of things with a hidden edge. They are so much fun, but you can get drawn in without even realizing it. Definitely relate.
 
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