Hypergraphia--Compulsive Need to Write

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http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles ... iver-words

I recently heard about the above disorder and wonder if I have it (or if it really is a disorder). I've told people before that I have to write, just like some people say that they have to paint. I post frequently on this site in the parents' section and another for parents, but I don't keep a diary. I have an English degree, certification to teach English, M. A. in English (well, almost), and a law degree. I wrote my first book at 12 and have written a bunch of books for my kids. I have a big website and 5 YouTube channels, and all previous work and chosen courses of study have involved copious amounts of writing. (I read all of the time, too, but I guess that is another subject).

What do you all think about this hypergraphia thing really being a disorder? I don't plan to change any time soon. The need to write all the time is worst when I feel anxious. It reduced somewhat when I got on antidepressants, but it is still there. I'm a good reader and writer, and these compulsions have always been key to whatever success I've achieved. Just wondering what you all think and if this is a common aspie compulsion.

As soon as I saw that Isaac Asimov was a hypergraphic I thought yeah that's right. I think he's written something like 200 books. I'm still trying to get through the Foundation series. He did a lot for science fiction too so I'm glad he had hypergraphia.

When I get the feeling to write I've just got to unless I will feel a sense of restlessness. Usually I write myself into burnout unless I know when to stop. Most of the time I just think the same thing over and over in my head for when it's no longer possible to write.

I have temporal lobe epilepsy too so that explanation in the article was very interesting. Although I've been hyper graphic before I developed the seizures. I know it's always been dormant in me.

Some of the writing I've done spur of of the moment and at 12am in the morning has probably been my best. Now I'm on medication and I'm all about schedules. The medication actually helps me get more detail out and keep writing the same story for about 13 months now.

I feel such a high when I write something I really like too.

I have never thought of hypergraphia as a disorder. It's like fixed fantasy a bit: the ability to create whole vivid worlds on your head with characters, location and a certain time period - basically like creating a movie in your head. That is seen as a disorder but to me it's moulded me into the writer I am today, and that need to write helps it too.

I have kept diaries but I found my hand started to hurt and I didn't like the sensation of my palm against paper, so I just keep a blog. The average length of my posts are 5 to 6 pages long. I've probably written over 60 chapters of my novel. Of course many of them have been re-written or discarded but I still have a good 30 out of them that I will keep...currently going through a re-writing and editing process. I'm fact checking and adding more detail.

That explains it-I must have hypergraphicphobia!

I used to be hypergraphic, I think, writing various fiction stories. I realized that I was really writing about things that made me anxious or that I was trying to figure out in a narrative style way. Once I realized that, making up entire stories just seems silly and overly complicated. Also, they were never particularly popular, so I might as well just talk to myself