One Obsession or more

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04 Dec 2007, 4:51 pm

I've had more than one obsession.
Right now I am obsessed with Benny & Joon and Spokane. They are sort of together though because the movie was filmed in Spokane and I enjoy all the places there that were in the movie. I cannot not ever go to Spokane and not eat at Fergusons when it's open.
I am also obsessed with autism and AS.
I am fascinated with fluorescent lights too but that obsession isn't very strong as my Benny & Joon and Spokane and AS/autism.

0_equals_true
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04 Dec 2007, 5:02 pm

EvilKimEvil wrote:

risingphoenix wrote:

I've read in the "OASIS guide to AS" about a survey regarding special interests, and the result was something like with some people they seem to get more as they get older, i.e. children have just one or two, whereas some adults reported to have as many as six.

That's how it's been for me. At first, I was only obsessed with dinosaurs and dragons. Then I became obsessed with all animals. By the time I was in high school, I had four main obsessions, and now I don't even know how many obsessions I have.

Are they talking about six interests or obsessions? I have more than six special interests, I have tones. It is not possible for me to have than one dominant obsession at on time even if I wanted to to. I think if you had extraordinary abilities them maybe you could have six or more.

risingphoenix
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04 Dec 2007, 5:42 pm

0_equals_true wrote:

EvilKimEvil wrote:

risingphoenix wrote:

They are talking about special interests. What's the difference between a special interest an an obsession? I've always thought those two terms were interchangeable.

And well, I suppose for people who have for example six special interests it means that they have a dominant one and the other five are not so dominant, or that they so to say more or less equally distribute the time others spend just on one or two interests on six. So I don't know if it has to do with extraordinary abilities.

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9CatMom
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04 Dec 2007, 8:33 pm

I have multiple interests, including:

Cats (a constant in my life)
Asperger's/autism
Roger Bannister/track and field/The Olympic Games
Various disabilities and medical conditions
Books and writing
The internet

thewllr
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05 Dec 2007, 6:59 am

Anyones obsession deal the whole aspect of that topic like you can read in my profile its anything I can watch anything I can listen to, look at, and read in english. Like if you are obsessed with cats are you obsessed with every single cat?

Strapples
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05 Dec 2007, 7:37 am

9CatMom wrote:

i have a 3 intellectual obsessions, disabilities and diseases of neurological system, (powerchairs and assistive technology), and the stock market

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MrMacPhisto
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05 Dec 2007, 12:40 pm

I have quite a few here is my list

U2
Doctor Who
Star Trek
Formula One
Dead Ringers
UB40
Blur

There are more but I can't think at the moment.

Electra
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05 Dec 2007, 3:46 pm

I've only ever had one obsession on the go at a time. As much as I like to 'feed' my obsessions (with research etc.), they are kinda disruptive to my life. I wonder what it must be like for those without obsessions, how can they possibly balance everything out so well?!

risingphoenix
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05 Dec 2007, 7:32 pm

Can anyone explain what's the difference between an obsession and a special interest? And do/did these always interfere with things like schoolwork etc. for you? Or could for example learning for school itself be an obsession (or special interest, as said, whatever is the difference)? Or are obsessions more concrete and narrow, i.e. that one could be obsessed with one particular subject, but not with e.g. "learning" or "reading" in general?

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quirky
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05 Dec 2007, 7:40 pm

I can tell the difference between interests and obsessions. I have an interest in history - I like reading about it, I like watching documentaries on it, studying it, etc. I have a lot of interests like that. With obsessions, they produce a physical rush, I think about them most of the day, they just take me to a level of excitement nothing else can. And I learn everything known to man about the topic. Therefore, it has to be a much narrower topic. For me, it's always a TV show. if I tried to learn everything about amphibians, history, or conjoined twins I could go on forever. Plus, obsessions make me stim when I think about them.

Novinha
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05 Dec 2007, 7:41 pm

Personally, I find that I seem to be interested in some general things (like film, video games or music), but only very specific parts of them. And then there are the obsessions that are specific to begin with, like Star Wars or espionage. Sometimes I find it hard to concentrate on other things (the many things in life I'm not interested in), but I get by. Usually at the last minute, but it tends to turn out all right.

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ixochiyo_yohuallan
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05 Dec 2007, 7:50 pm

I usually have one or two interests that definitely fall under the category of obsessive - as in, trying to read all the literature on the subject that I can find (or at least as much as I have patience for), thinking about it practically all the time, talking about it whenever I get the chance and continuously trying to steer the conversation toward it (or refraining from that but wanting to), constructing scenes or short storylines in my mind connected to that subject, etc. Apart from these, there may be other interests which can also be strong, just not that much.

Right now it's developmental psychology and the writing I'm working on, on the background of being generally interested in everything wildlife/biology, especially moths, butterflies and tailless amphibians. Some years ago it was Anne Rice's vampires, the Anne Rice fan fiction I tried to write, and the relation of vampire symbolism to death/rebirth and transformation symbolism. In my late teens, it was analytical psychology, ways of treating schizophrenia and Sergey Esenin. In my mid teens, it was be Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd, Pink Floyd's history and Sergey Esenin again.

9CatMom
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05 Dec 2007, 8:22 pm

I love every breed of cat. However, Siamese and tabbies are my favorites. I especially love Lynx point Siamese, which are a mix of tabby and Siamese. They are incredibly beautiful.

quirky
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05 Dec 2007, 9:09 pm

ixochiyo_yohuallan wrote:

Wow, you literally just described exactly how I am about obsessions, word for word. It sure is a pain when everything in a conversation somehow relates back to your obsession, but you know it's inappropriate to take the conversation that way!

Weirdobird
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05 Dec 2007, 9:21 pm

One major obsession since at least when I was 3 (as far back as I can remember) plus some interests I am very passionate about.

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