Obsession vs. Addiction

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After reading a number of posts, I'm curious to know if there is a difference between an ASD obsession and an addiction? Now that our DS (15) has been diagnosed, I think back to his video-gaming days. For a number of years we battled with him on his video-game usage. It started as a earned reward, then went to regular usage (1 hr/day), and then went to sneaking and breaking passcodes to play. When we took the controllers away and he couldn't play for a little while, he literally went through the same withdrawal as a drug addict--extreme irritability, mood swings, cravings. Now that I recognize the symptoms of ASD, I wonder if taking them away permanently was the right approach--probably not. DS is especially gifted and can find ways around EVERYTHING. When we took his games away, he would go to friends' houses and play or go to the electronics store at the mall... Any ideas?

Isn't an obsession a strong interest whereas an addiction is where you have a physical need for something because of the way it affects your brain?

I can't tell the difference. Maybe the difference is people who are addicted can't live without it and they feel anxious and upset when they can't do it so they are unable to be away from it when they go to work or go on a trip or head out somewhere and they have to do it.

Aspies who have obsessions, some of them are like that too so I guess that would mean they are addicted to their obsessions.

They are pretty much the same since aspies do have a hard time controlling their obsessions. if they can control them and it doesn't impair them, it's not a trait. So what happens if they do learn to control it and not let it get in their way and run their lives? Would that mean they outgrew that symptom despite the fact their obsessions are still strong and they still have passion for them and they still get intense with it?


My mother says I have an addictive personality. She seems to have names for every autistic component I have when she talks about a specific trait. She will say adjustment disorder or OCD or anxiety and then she says addictive personality. It's just like talking about sensory issues an autistic person has and mentioning they have sensory processing disorder or talking about their poor coordination and poor motor skills and saying they have dyspraxia than autism. if they are having a hard time letting things go or keep obsessing over a mistake they made, my mother would call that OCD.


And it's interesting how NTs can have the same components and not even be autistic. I think it all depends. Mine come from AS. Sometimes I wonder if it's all separate and if I was just mislabeled as being on the spectrum and I just have all these quirks or if it's all caused by something else I wonder such as OCD or anxiety.

I have never been interested in addictive substances like tobacco, drugs or even alcohol. I am pessimistic in a good way when comes to gambling. I know video games CAN be addictive but not everyone who plays them becomes unhealthily interested. I have seen ads (from the US) for drugs that have compulsive gambling as a side effect. Huh? How can a drug make you suddenly want to gamble if you were never interested in it before? I think that for many aspies their obsession is considered odd because it's unusual their age, gender, or it's not something the rest of the world is going manic about (which is usually stupid, anyway). I think we really need more research done on why we have unusual obsessions instead of always being slapped with a label that we are weird or abnormal or making stupid reality shows about it. And as long as we're not spending all our money, neglecting our responsibilities or suffering from physical or mental health problems, what's wrong with having a special interest? Why is it so wrong to be yourself???

I would imagine that clinically speaking there is a difference between addiction and special interests (IMHO this is a better term than Obsession), however in how it effects a person's life, there seem to be a lot of similarities. Take alcoholism for example, one of the defining features of being an alcoholic is that drinking interferes with a person's ability to function in the rest of their lives, at work or at school for example or foregoing food if a choice must be made between eating or having the next drink. From what I have read here, it seems that for some aspies, their special interests effect their ability to participate in work or school so it could be said to have a negative effect on the rest of their lives but somehow that seems a bit different than the alcoholic or drug addict. Physical withdrawal symptoms from a drug like alcohol or heroin are certainly a LOT different than being denied access to a special interest. Alcohol or drug withdrawal can literally kill a person.

The thing that you have to bear in mind, for me i find the only true way i can relax is to be absorbed in something. To be fully up to the hilt absorbed in something, it's like im in the zone, that for me is heaven. Yes i do crave it! For someone whose brain never stops running, damn right i crave the oblivion of being absorbed in something.

And yeah, i can get absorbed into other things. I'm the kind of person that actually enjoys the work part of work. It's just work is nowhere near as relaxing as something fun like playing computer games. Computer games are fun and relaxing to people of the right disposition. It's the fun of being absorbed into something without the stress of having to get it right, it's just fun.

Kids in general love games. Why is it exactly that you think there is any difference between kicking a ball around in the street, playing a board game, playing a puzzle game and playing computer games? Cuz i can tell you, a game is a game.


Yeah, i understand what you're doing, you don't understand what your kid gets from computer games, so instead of trying to understand you blanket ban them. Tbh, that's not very understanding of your kids issues, one of which is that he spends most of his time in a world where everything is stressful and the only real way he gets to release is banned to him.


Compromise. Recognise that everyone needs their ways to release stress. Or pay for it in other ways. He's not going to obey you when your rule is stupid (not to be offensive, but it's true). There's no way an aspie will obey a stupid rule, fact. Work something else out. Work with him and not against him.

According to dictionary.com, an addiction is "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma."

Like I said above an obsession is just a very strong interest. An addiction is habit forming, and you psychologically cannot stop the activtiy due to the rush it give you.

For example, a few years ago I became obsessed with ratites (flightless birds such as ostriches.) I spent hours online researching about them but I was not ADDICTED to doing this, and I eventually lost interest.

People can become addicted to narcotic substances or gambling. And yes, video game addiction is documented -- it's considered an addiction when you spend so much time playing video games that it interferes with your daily life and relationships.

More about vido game addiction on Wikipedia:

"Some theorists focus on presumed built-in reward systems of the games to explain their potentially addictive nature."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game ... ble_causes

Interesting, because I remember back in the 80's when video games first started coming out my grandfather always used to say they reminded him of slot machines.

No, of course it's not understanding. Only now am I really beginning to understand the depth of his personality; he was diagnosed PDD-NOS in March of this year. As a first-time parent in the age of technology, all I knew is that my son became this zombie-like persona who was completely uninterested in anything other video games. Literally, a zombie; bags under the eyes, lethargic, depressed when not playing video games. Truthfully, as his Mom, it totally scared me seeing him that way. He was an addict. I had hoped that replacing the video game system with a camera and editing software could give him something more productive to focus on. But, again, this was all before I knew he was on the spectrum. Now, I'm doing everything I can to understand the best way to be a parent to him and prepare him for adulthood.

I don't believe in video game addiction. And i'm sorry, i don't agree with you. You can't compare drugs to video games! That's just laughable. And it also betrays your own prejudices. You don't like video games yourself i take it?

Funny how other peoples interests are addictions and your own interests in reading up about ratites is just an interest.... Your interest is just an interest and so is his, it's the autism that makes it seem otherwise.

I spent my entire childhood reading. I'd not wash, i'd not eat, i'd spend an hour dying to go to the toilet so i could just read ONE MORE PAGE! That's not addiction, that's autism ! That's getting absorbed in what you're doing so heavily that you forget about everything else... I do that with every interest i have. I didn't receive a rush when i got a book in front of me after not being able to read because of school and etc, i'd get release. Not a rush, just release.

To the op : The answer isn't banning, it's discipline and routine. Just remember, for your son to follow your rules he has to agree that they're FAIR. Banning isn't fair, all you're going to do is make him lose respect for you.

I always wonder what is the difference between an aspie being addicted to computer/video games and an NT being addicted to them. They both share the same characteristics when you take it from them. They will both meltdown or have tantrums, it's a whole nightmare when you take it away from them. It's very hard for them to be away from it.

My ex was addicted to his computer game, he said he played it to pass time because he had nothing else to do. Well he would contradict by getting upset and impatient when i kick him off so I can connect the internet to my computer and use it and I even gave him a time to get off the computer by telling him I was going to shower and I want him off after I gt out and I want the computer to be ready for me by then. I would try and make it clear as possible and he never listened. Also when we be at my parents house, he have this freaky look on his face because he was not playing his game. Since then I have strongly hated computer games. Unfortunately my husband plays them and I sometimes blow up at him when he takes too long getting something done because he was too busy with the game. Makes me not want to ever have my son play them when he is older or else he may get that addiction and it be a total nightmare to get him off. Luckily my husband doesn't play the game when I am at work because he has our baby he has to take care of. I don't think my husband is as addicted to the computer game as my ex was. He is able to out it aside and not have it impair him when he is at work and he doesn't get anxious to get home to play the game.

Honestly I do not see any difference between an aspie and NT being obsessed/addicted to playing computer/video games. But it does seem so common for aspies to spend lot of their time with them but maybe that is just a coincidence?


But if an aspie is obsessed with anything, take it away from them, it's also a nightmare so I also see it as an addiction. If it's not an addiction, then they shouldn't get so upset and feel depressed and anxious and suicidal if they are taken away as a punishment. It shouldn't be a problem then.

With over 10 thousand posts, how would you feel if you were banned from the internet? Isn't this what you do to relax? To release? Aspies struggle to see other peoples point of view, isn't that what you're doing with your dislike of computer games?

And also, you're exaggerating about people being anxious, suicidal, depressed, upset because they can't play on computer games, they just want to relax and do what they like to do to have fun! Besides, you meltdown yourself when you don't get your own way, you just admitted it, can't you understand even a small part of the annoyance at being told what you can and can't do to have fun?



really?


Just saying....

Last edited by Timeconsumer on 11 May 2012, 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The reason my son was admitted to a behavioral health hospital was depression and suicidal ideation. I've always wondered if his diagnoses were connected to his obsession/addiction to video games and other ASD traits.

yknow, what you originally tried with getting him into something else might help. Just you maybe got it wrong on what you chose to try and get him interested in.

There is a more positive interest out there for him, maybe that could be the route you go down?

I've found that my addictions can just disappear over night if something more interesting gets in the way. Like i've gone through years of not even thinking about computer games because ive been so busy with other things.


Oh , bear in mind though, this is how your son will always be. He'll always have narrow intense interests. The best you could do is maybe direct him. Whatever interest replaces computer games, he'll be exactly the same. That's both our curse and blessing really, so obsessed with what we're into that the world ceases to exist and so obsessed with our interests that we see things that no one else can.

Last edited by Timeconsumer on 11 May 2012, 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well I don't know that totally disallowing video games is the right approach either.....I mean if that's what he likes and passionately it makes sense he would try and find ways around it to play them. Also besides addiction though, sometimes people are just in pain and trying to get away from that.......maybe that is what video games are to him. In which case he probably could be depressed moreso than addicted to video games.

Wow I was the exact same way about reading....until my PTSD screwed it up, but yeah I would litterally ignore my stomach growling or my mom calling for me just to read one more page...or just to get to the end of the page I was on.

I would get depressed as hell and very anxious and maybe stim more and be more irritable and have more outbursts so I must have an internet addiction or else it wouldn't be a problem for me to do something else to relax me like go watch Titanic or read the book I have or go to the library to check out books on it or listen to music or go play video games to keep my mind off no internet.




So all those women were lying online when they said about their husbands having tantrums and other stuff after they turned off their computer or hid the keyboard or the power cords? Were parents of autistic kids lying too when they talk about their meltdowns if they take away their obsessions? People keep telling me to not believe everything I read online but then I wonder" so they are lying?"



Yes really.