Re-reading the same things daily

[Butterfly88]

Lately, I have come across a few short articles I like and now I have been re-reading the same articles every night. This has only just started. Do you think it's a nervous habit? I've been pretty stressed recently.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I don't know what that is,...all I know is that I read, and re-read,...and re-read just about everything I write. Most of my posts are edited on here. E-mails,...give me a lot of concern,...because I can't correct my wording and spelling. I can read something I have written, several times,...and still miss things. I guess I don't feel overtly anxious,...I am not conscious of it,...but definitely OCD-like behavior.

 

[watersprite]

When I am stressed, I re-read a few of my favorite books. I’ve read & re-read some of them over a dozen times.

Whatever works. (As long as it is healthy.) That is what I figure.

 

[Loren]

Lately, I have come across a few short articles I like and now I have been re-reading the same articles every night. This has only just started. Do you think it's a nervous habit? I've been pretty stressed recently.

Being that you have been experiencing stress, perhaps the familiarity of what you've been re-reading could have a calming effect. Even, subconsciously/ without being aware of it.

 

[Misery]

I've often wondered if this is sort of an autistic trait, perhaps. That repetition.

I do it with videos. Certain Youtube videos or series I've seen 10 billionty times, and often when I COULD try watching something new, instead, I'll just rewatch whatever it is for the zillionth time. I dont even want to know just how many times I've watched Llamas With Hats in the last month.

I often find myself oddly reluctant to watch new ones. Like, there's this sense of "well I COULD watch this new thing here while I have my meal, but... what if it's not good?" so I end up watching something that I already KNOW is good and have probably seen an absurd number of times.

 

[rach3rd]

I often find myself oddly reluctant to watch new ones. Like, there's this sense of "well I COULD watch this new thing here while I have my meal, but... what if it's not good?" so I end up watching something that I already KNOW is good and have probably seen an absurd number of times.

I do the same thing! I watch stuff over and over, or put a song on loop. Something about the repetition I guess.

 

[Thinx]

I do this too, reread emails, before and after they are sent, edit posts here, reread favourite books, play a song or a few songs over and over.

Not to an extent that feels like it could be OCD, it just feels like a comfortable thing to do.

Eating a lot of the same foods, reading more by favourite authors, going back to favourite familiar places, revisiting favourite topics to find out more...

I like doing some new things too though. Going to new places (but not beyond the UK much), finding new authors to read, yeah that list's actually harder to enlarge .

Maybe the articles seem relevant to an issue that's important to you just now?

 

[Fino]

I rewatch every episode of Young Sheldon over and over and over.

 

[LadyS]

I reread books, rewatch movies, shows, and replay games, etc. There's comfort in repetition, probably because as the world keeps changing, moving so fast, some things don't change and are reliably steadfast.

 

[Progster]

I often read forum posts repeatedly, including ones I've written, because I'm still processing the information from them. I don't repeatedly read articles often elsewhere, though, because the reason I'm reading them is different - they are normally science-based or factual and I read them to get information and when I have that information, I move onto something else and don't usually read again. Unless I'm trying to understand or process something (usually with emotional content).

 

[SusanLR]

I do this with certain TV series, soft music with calming scenes on the screen, and Dr. Miller's
relaxation CDs.
I've listened to him since back in the 80's. Same ones that are my favourites.
Probably heard them 1,000 times, but, I find them calming and giving a sense of familiarity
that I want. He has a very soothing voice and somehow gives a sense of home.

That same familiar feeling feels safe and settles anxiety.

 

[SimonSays]

I don't re-read the same things daily per se, but I do re-read what I write all the time. I edit my writing many times, and often read it several times once I've posted it, still finding things that need changing. Then, if it's responded to I will read it yet again, to remind myself what I'd said, before reading the reply and answering. Each time I might feel like I want to change something. As @Neonatal RRT said, it's almost an OCD.

I might re-read something for several days, editing it each time. The idea is to turn it into something that I feel I have said well, and yet sometimes it depends where I'm reading it as to how I see it. Just moving it from the word processor onto the forum, changes something so that when I read it yet again, I realise I have more editing to do.

Some things are never really finished. Each time I read them I find something else to change, something that makes it better, clearer, easier to understand. Being understood matters to me. Being clear is important. Grammatically correct. Legible. Everything in the right place. It can take time.

Sometimes I wish I did not always have to do that. That I could post something as it comes out, warts and all. I have tried, but I can't leave it that way, because I know I can do something to make it better. For me, the point of communication is to be understood. If I'm asking you to read something, I should take the time to make sure it's easy to.

 

[Richelle-H]

There is something about the act of reading that opens up possibly unexplored areas within us.

I remember that I connected very strongly to Samuel R. Delany's "Dhalgren". So much so that I read it three times in a row without a break. I think it expressed my (at that time unknown) autism directly. The fact that almost every time the book was reprinted there were minor changes to the text, only served to reinforced my obsession at that time. [Hey, it was the mid 70's, what else can I say]

So of course, I had to read it again when it was finally published in hard cover by a specialty publisher; fully cognizant of the fact that I would most likely never find the words or punctuation marks that were altered.

I also am rather compulsive about what I write. At times, I will work up something in Word, then I will re-read it, and edit it to make it more concise. After copying and pasting it to whatever site, I will re-read it again. This leads to more changes and the inevitable typo or out of place word, which I catch after it is posted, which leads to yet another edit, and so on and so on and....

I don't think it can be classified as a nervous habit.

 

[Suzette]

I self diagnosed a.s.d. just a few weeks ago at 54. I learned early in the value of masking due to family pressure (cruel bullying) but as I got older I have ceased to care what others think of me and find myself engaging in much more repitition.

I eat the same thing for breakfast every single day except for once or twice per month. I have done this for about 8 years.

I have about 3 outfits I wear except for special occasions.

I make my coffee exactly the same every day, even when travelling.

If a song really moves me I can listen to it on loop but that is super rare.

I do play super repetative games like yachtzee and various forms of solitare and currently I solve mazes. I play these games an hour or two every day. I will play one game thousands of times over the course of months before I change it up.

I also like repetative websites with limited but changing information. My favorite site right now is lovemeow.com. It is kitten and cat rescue stories with articles that take 1-5 minutes to read. I visit this site several times a day.

@Butterfly88, you do you!

 

[James45]

I read the same thing again and again and again, it used to be catalogues of things I wasn't even interested in I just liked the seeing all the different prices in relation to each other, even that doesn't really describe it though. Very comforting.

I think the advantage of knowing about your ASD is to let these unusual habits flourish (even if it is some sort of stress coping mechanism), I wouldn't have dreamed about letting anybody know about what I wrote above, a few years ago.

Like @Suzette I have the same breakfast everyday and have done for over ten years.

If there are certain pleasing ways the harmony/notes of a song combine, I can listen on repeat to that song several hundred times, and it is just for that split second when the notes combine!

Inside me the repetition touches the same place regardless of the activity, which I like. That is about as much as I can describe, it feels like my own special place.

Even weirder, certain shades of yellow touch the same internal place as the repetitive behaviour.

 

[Martha Ferris]

I re-read some of my favorite books and watch some of my favorite movies but they are like comfort food for me. They meet an emotional need when I choose to revisit them. Ask yourself what you are getting out of re-reading these articles. How do you feel when you read them?
I re-read questions that are posed repeatedly to ensure that I am answering what is being asked correctly.

 

[Primrose]

Yes, I'm doing this since childhood. There is definitely something comforting about rereading books. I remember during any period of stress I would comfort myself in this way. Or rewatching some old movies.

When it comes to posting I don't usually edit or read back what I wrote. If I though too much about it I probably wouldn't post.

 

[SimonSays]

When it comes to posting I don't usually edit or read back what I wrote. If I though too much about it I probably wouldn't post.

There's something nice about keeping it simple like that. Sometimes I wish I could do that.

 

[Streetwise]

Lately, I have come across a few short articles I like and now I have been re-reading the same articles every night. This has only just started. Do you think it's a nervous habit? I've been pretty stressed recently.

I do it more than once a day depends on how shattered I am

 

[Streetwise]

I've been repeating haven but it's hard to get it ,can't afford £98 for two DVDs