Collections/research

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Perhaps this is normal, I don't know, but I like to spend long periods of time reading about things and collecting pictures of things and having them in folders dedicated to the subject (e.g. a folder of pictures of cult party kei fashion), although this is difficult because I'm disorganized. I find it comforting looking at my folder of things that I like. Does anyone else do this? The concept of 'special interests' is a bit confusing to me. I do have intense interests, but I don't know if that makes them special. I read that some gifted people have special interests and they are mistaken for having Aspergers.

I think it is normal to collect and research things. Graphic arts is an interest of mine as well as music, obviously by my choice of user name. While I do have many photos in my computer. They tend to be very unorganized. I was suspected of having ADD later on in my life, so that would explain the lack of organizational skills. I spend hours and days either listening to music, creating art, or researching anything that is interesting to me. I always feel a strong need to know things.
Anyway, I believe that collecting and researching is "normal" until it starts to affect daily life, as it does for me. I cannot hold a job, I hardly have any friends, I am often not interested in dating, or any other type of social activity. I often forget to eat, shower and do not sleep when I really should if I am busy with my interests. My interests are my life, and I must do them in order to be happy. I have tried not doing them and that always ends up in emotional disaster for me.

Hmm, I think this is difficult to judge when there's other stuff going on. Like, I need a lot of time to myself, a lot of which I spend researching my interests, but is that just introversion? And I have issues with eating and sleeping for reasons other than my interests.

I've done this for years, only I do it on the computer. My interests have changed focus over the years, but I still revisit old interests at times.

I do it on the computer. I mean folders in 'my documents'.

Have you thought about being tested for an ASD by a specialist?

I also enjoy collecting pictures and researching information related to my interests. The pictures I collect are often disorganized too, no matter how hard I try to keep them organized.

Yes, but I need to get funding

Ah yeah, I understand with the 'very unorganized and yet love categorizing and organizing special interest related material.' I can't keep anything clean or tidy, can't keep a planner functional BUT when I'd amassed a large fossil collection as a child, I could spend hours arranging them on their display shelves by whatever criteria piqued my interest at that moment; age/location found/date found/value, plant versus animal and so on. I probably did more harm then good handling them so often though :/

Yes I understand what that is like. I only have partial insurance. I am going to see a psychologist due to my level of depression increasing. I plan on asking about possible testing for an ASD.

I enjoy collecting information and researching topics of interest.

I started colelcting anything on Native americans, and put/glue them in huge wallpaper samples book. But soon it ended up in news too, drawings, and it became miscelanous.
Since the Internet started for me in 1997 I have started downloading 'knowledge' on anything I find interesting, if that had to be printed out I would have had a library full, but always travelling I had not a pc yet of my own, os in cybercafes I accessed the Net and uploaded them via my email box and stored them there, only to look at them once or twice and never having had the time to read all, or big chunks. as I also cannot handle reading too long and a huge amount of text puts me off on line on the screen and certainly when I am impatient and restless ADHD?

I only collected them same with pictures. And I still do it now but on my laptop and 15 years have passed by and still I haven't read any of the, many times though I lost them through a virus or pc crash...hehehe, so I collected again and again, on top of it I make art and take pictures, i have millions of my past 5 years travelling and barely look at them. So, I wonder why I photograph and spent fortunes on it with my analog camera in the past 30 years. What to do?

I used to collect coins, poststamps, stickers, keyhangers, picks for a stickerbook, I can't throw away a thing...I even bought special boxes for archives of portfolios which I gave a name of a category...Artists collect, but it is also a male thing to collect (hunters gatheres, you see?) a psychologist told me.

I also collected newspapers and after on year they had piled up and I had never read the articles I wante to read, I moved them from flat to flat and stored them for 15 years. My excuse to my friends who keep it in the attic? I said that I needed in case as an artist I needed those archives or for collage...but always on the road, I never did. The got nearly mad at me as I didn't want to throw away any books, which I won't read anymore because I am not living there...

Is that collecting and special intersts?

I started colelcting anything on Native americans, and put/glue them in huge wallpaper samples book. But soon it ended up in news too, drawings, and it became miscelanous.
Since the Internet started for me in 1997 I have started downloading 'knowledge' on anything I find interesting, if that had to be printed out I would have had a library full, but always travelling I had not a pc yet of my own, os in cybercafes I accessed the Net and uploaded them via my email box and stored them there, only to look at them once or twice and never having had the time to read all, or big chunks. as I also cannot handle reading too long and a huge amount of text puts me off on line on the screen and certainly when I am impatient and restless ADHD?

I only collected them same with pictures. And I still do it now but on my laptop and 15 years have passed by and still I haven't read any of the, many times though I lost them through a virus or pc crash...hehehe, so I collected again and again, on top of it I make art and take pictures, i have millions of my past 5 years travelling and barely look at them. So, I wonder why I photograph and spent fortunes on it with my analog camera in the past 30 years. What to do?

I used to collect coins, poststamps, stickers, keyhangers, picks for a stickerbook, I can't throw away a thing...I even bought special boxes for archives of portfolios which I gave a name of a category...Artists collect, but it is also a male thing to collect (hunters gatheres, you see?) a psychologist told me.

I also collected newspapers and after on year they had piled up and I had never read the articles I wante to read, I moved them from flat to flat and stored them for 15 years. My excuse to my friends who keep it in the attic? I said that I needed in case as an artist I needed those archives or for collage...but always on the road, I never did. The got nearly mad at me as I didn't want to throw away any books, which I won't read anymore because I am not living there...

Is that collecting and special interests?

Wow, I can relate. I like to say I collect collections. I'm sporadically organized about it. I'm the sort of person whose living room can be FEMA-worthy yet her CDs are organized alphabetically, by genre. I get like that when I'm packing to move, too. I have to constantly remind myself not to obsess about little things when there's a ton of work left to do that's more pressing.

Research has always been my strong suit, and I definitely enjoy "collecting knowledge" whether it's something I'm personally interested in, or a friend is, or I'm working on as an assignment (I did some freelance research).

My unreliable memory is a big part of my clutter, too, because I will forget I ever did something if I don't save some sort of memento. I've had to get better about that because I've always lived in small apartments... I started collecting postcards on my travels instead of souvenirs for example, because they're small, cheap, easy to find, and easily stored. It's fun to flip through them and remind myself of places I've been.

I have no idea how normal it is, but I spend large amounts of time researching and collecting information. It doesn't even have to be anything that particularly interests me, though I do spend an inordinate amount of time researching my interests. For instance, my husband can ask me a question to which I do not know the answer, and I will spend several hours researching the topic whether or not I find it interesting. I suppose I find all information interesting in a way.