Talking excessively about obsessions

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I read several times that OCD manifests itself more in individuals with ASD than in neurotypicals. Of course, a neurotypical could easily have worse OCD than a person with both ASD and OCD. The two are not mutually exclusive.

I am going through ruminations right now, which are affecting my immune system due to the severe stress, plus putting me in a depressive state. It is not fun.

But whilst not talking orally, I do write about my obsessions. As many here probably now by now.

This was a serious problem to me as a kid. These days not as much, but only because I take extra care to keep an eye on if people are actually interested in hearing about things or are just too polite to say anything. This is especially tricky when they're the ones to bring the subject up and I have to figure out if they just want to "scratch the surface" on the topic or if they want to have a longer conversation.

I used to do that all the time when I was younger. Now I just post on wrong planet

Also, since my diagnosis I am more aware.

My AS son does this all the time and has trouble understanding whether people are interested, bored or annoyed. I was the same way as a kid...but now only open up about these things with people who share the interest. But then I'm unstoppable.

I'm very self-conscious and a defeatist, so I always want to talk about my obsessions with people, but after talking for a couple minutes I go back into my shell and kind of give them prompts to gauge if they're bored.

Extremely lucky for me, my obsessions tend to interest others (or I could always be reading the interactions wrong and not know it...). For example, one of my obsessions is brewing mead. All my friends and their friends are very much into craft beers and breweries, so that obsession aligns with them quite well

you sound quite self-aware and courteous, in the way you handle it. i'm going to try the above (first paragraph) instead of going on forever and never noticing.
actually i do that here, too, and other people probably don't do it and hold back to be courteoous

I have a lot of friends on the spectrum who talk a lot about their obsessions/special interests. It is indeed a common trait. Our interests/obsessions are a big part of our identity.

I am guilty of doing this as well. I also manage to find a way to connect interests to nearly anything. I am more knowledgeable about interests than other topics and I feel vulnerable when I have nothing to say about a topic and come across as ignorant.

When I was younger, I had less control over it. Now, I am a bit more self-conscious talking about them because I don't want to bore people, or judgement for what I like. If you get me talking about them, I can go on for hours. I'm usually quiet unless a special interest comes up in conversation.

I've always had awareness of how the other person was feeling, but I chose to ignore it because I just couldn't resist the urge to talk about my obsessions. Nothing else really interested me only my obsession (my obsession was with these certain people that I knew of) but I didn't even like having an obsession. It felt slightly like a mental illness, especially when it made me start to stalk impulsively.

I remember one time when I was 16 I saw one of the people I was obsessed with in the supermarket, and I couldn't wait to tell someone. So when I got home I told my mum, making it sound like I had something really interesting to say. She listened inquisitively but when she discovered it was just about my obsession, she lectured me: "Is that all you rushed in to tell me? I thought you were saying you found a job advertisement or something! Don't you ever think about anything else?" She was right, but at the time I got upset and defensive at the way she underestimated my obsession. How dare she saw me that excited and assumed it was something NOT related to my obsession??

I don’t say much around most people and keep my interest to myself unless someone asks about it specifically. I used to have a friend who shared my special interest and we would chatter on all day about it. I think she is also undiagnosed AS. We were drawn to each other like magnets when someone first introduced us to each other. I talk unfiltered to my boyfriend about all of my latest research and he listens most of the time but tunes me out sometimes. He’s gifted and has obsessions just as bad as I do and I listen to him most of the time but tune him out sometimes

Yes JOe90 it's like being embarrassed or wanting to hide the interest from others so the sacredness and privacy of it isn't lost? Is that a factor?

It always has been for me anyway. Very recently (past 2 months) I stopped by telling myself I am who I am other ppl are obsessed witj celebs devastating politics etc this is my thing. Also I have been watching old videos of a ladt called LanaIndiana and she is never apologetic about liking or doing something. She says it whatever her obsession is.

And ppl dont mind.
if something she did or does is bad she says it too
and changes it etc but she doesnt leave that up to the other person. She does it in a positive way so I absorbed that . i can't explain its just in her videos

And ppl are interested if they don't get too much shot at them (me bombarding them). So that I try to restrain. But its not always doable.

I frequently talk about my interests excessively. However, among those I know well, I have given them instruction to simply tell me to "shut up" when I go on too long and they have lost interest.

I have quite a knowledge about Asia, which not many people know about in Western society, so I find myself educating them, whether they wanted to be taught or not!

I never could understand why other people were allowed to talk about the same thing add nauseum, but I wasn't.

Yes, people have always told me I talk to much about my special interests. In school I got called "nature freak," "animal girl", etc.

Now-a-days I do the same thing, but people are alright with it because I'm an academic.

As a kid I didn't talk enough to annoy anyone, but would just think about my interest all the time. As an adult I still don't talk all that much but have gotten on my wife's nerves for continually bringing up an interest too much. It is not so much a compulsion to talk as is just the only thing I think about when I have one.

I have a cousin like this (knowledge of Asia she even taught herself chinese at a young age 11 or 12 i think) she is a genius but she also has Aspergers


I rarely see her as they live far but love when i do, to ask her in depth n actually getting a whole treasury of knowledge withoyt having to make any effort she knows everything about ChinaKorea etc
Actually she teaches Korean students now and knows more about their family backgroumds than them just from hearinf the family name she is able to tell them stuff


Ppl like you rock
Actually my knowledge is nowhere close. My special interests are very very tiny---

and not broad and encompassing like Asia history etc..
In fact i think a main special interest is people (their life stories)


So I envy such ASD ppl who actually know and remember so much about topics anyone can benefit from learning about