Special Interests, causes of

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i had a speccial interest(darts) in which i used to play regular and was quite good at.It was the only from of socialising i had in my life.However i got something called the yips and was no onger able to play the game properly.At the same time i was being bullied at school and falling out with lots of people.I became very badly depressed because i could no longer play my special interest,which i obsessed about non stop(dangerously so in fact).I have been trying to regain my interest for the past 2 and a half years,i ahve hardly left the house and it is as though my life has stopped.Anyone else would of just gave up and gone onto something else .However because of my aspergers i can not, and therefor put myself through hell over the game i love.I have never heard of anyone with aspergers who has suffered from the yips before,but beleive me it is a recipe for disaster!

That is an interesting theory

The thing that sucks about talking to NTs about a special interest is when they seem not interested. Like right now I am all about RC planes and have spent hours and hours building, modifying and flying planes. I have gone from newb to self proclaimed guru in like a month. But all I talk about is oh I did this with my plane and this.. I am sure everyone is tired of hearing about it.

I think my special interests are usually just things that make my happy. Tony Atwood suggests that SI's may develop because

1). They bring pleasure

2) They reduce anxiety (some SI's develop out of fears - e.g. SI in insects in an someone afraid of spiders)

3) They allow us to show off intelligence

4). They are a way to spend our time ( since we don’t spend as much time socializing)

5) To provide relaxation

6) To help understand the psychical world (need to systemize/ catalogue info)

7). To create an alternative world ( especially when they involve things like other cultures, historical periods or fiction)

To create a sense of identity

Most of my interests are artistic in nature, if I'm not creating stuff on a pretty regular basis I get stressed and become very unpleasant to be around... So it tends to be a round-robin of hobbies such as drawing, painting, photography, chain-mail etc...

My other interests usually are mechanical in nature, I'm not really sure what causes them.