Getting bored with your interests

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I feel the same way. I keep feeling like whatever new special interest I gain is going to be "the one" that will stick with me for the rest of my life, but in reality they typically only last between 1 to 3 years. I still haven't made peace with it though, because I always get highly emotionally involved with my interests and I actually grieve over them when I lose my passion for them.

I'm dreading the day my interest in Tim Burton movies comes to an end. It's already a lot less intense than it was a year ago, but I haven't completely dropped it yet because they still have very strong sentimental value for me. Even though I'm not quite as passionate about them as before, I just can't bring myself to delete Burton's movies out of my Favorite Movies list on Facebook or redecorate my bedroom (which is very Tim Burton-themed).

Not yet anyway, though judging from past experience I'm sure something new will come along in a few months or so that will make me drop it, since it's already past the 1 year mark so it could end at any time. I've already had a few times where I was positive it was ending, only to return to it a few days later.

I keep all my past interests in a mental store to pull them out of it after some time (even a long one) - in other words, sooner or later, I will get to them once more. For example recently I had a literary obsession with Anne Rice's works which now is fading away, replaced by the one with the Left Behind series but I'm sure in a couple of months it will return again - those novels are way too interesting not to do it. I have many literary and movie obsessions.

I still feel fondly towards my really big ones and woe betide anyone who tries to talk about them in my presence- either it's clenched fists and going bright red or I go in and try to talk about it and my tongue gets all tied up. I almost choked once when someone asked me if I'd ever read Anne Frank's diary I was bothered about it for ages afterwards..."how could I NOT have read her diary? How? What kind of an idiot even asks that sort of question?"...it was an impossibility. I was about 12 and that was one of the things that would get me all het up. I suspect part of it is that I really wanted to 'connect' to these people and talking about something I knew so much about could be a really good medium, but I knew I would never get it all out into words for them.

I never get bored with my interests. There will come a time when I switch from my current rambling interest to a new one, but I love all of my special interests for always and always. I can't imagine becoming bored with them, because I throw myself into my special interests 110%, and they become a part of me. I think if I grew tired of the older ones, I'd lose part of my identity.

Also, I find it interesting that some people have had decreased special interest obsessiveness with medication. Thankfully, my OCD medication doesn't decrease my special interest obsessiveness. It only works on my OCD obsessions. This tells me that there is something biochemically different about the two. I want to look into this matter further someday.

That is very interesting!

Some interests I've lost, some i've kept.

It seems related to long-term enthusiasm and enjoyment.

For example, I still love some kinds of music though I have little time to listen now.

But I've lost interest in games, because they are generally for escapism, not true enjoyment.

Yeah, I mean I was in my late 30s when I finally accepted I can't hold onto an interest constantly. I can go back to old interests often - cycle through existing interests, so I know I'll love it again as much as I did before, but sometimes I just get hooked on other things and can't let go. Right now I have five different things vying for my attention but can only really focus on one and can kind of focus on another and minimally on a third. The last two just get neglected, and it has nothing to do with how I would actually prioritize them, since one of the neglected two actually involves some level of social obligation.