Special interests, and how they make you feel

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I'm currently engaging in my special interest by watching youtube videos of the musical Cats, the Dutch touring cast.

I had an overwhelming day, and for some reason, my special interest is drawing me in right now.

How do you feel when engaging in your special interest, though? What I really need is to relax right now, but watching these videos is getting me all wound up. It's scary when I randomly find myself facing the depths of my obsession.

Well, it's the only time during the day where I can forget myself.

Usually, my day can be pretty painful, depending on what I am expected to do.

I don't know whether it's something to worry about. It's not a very relaxing activity and you probably shouldn't engage in an activity for too long.

I'm not the best to advise you here though.

Obsessions have always been my strongest autistic trait.

A lot of the time I find my special interests get me very wound-up.

My main special interest revolves around sensitive subject matter - I get frustrated at the level of ignorance on the subject and if talking to other people they can be very sensitive about the subject so can occasionally become aggressive or dismissive - thus I get anxious about possible negative reactions. When engaging in my special interest without the involvement of others I can still get pretty wound-up.

Special interests often leave me feeling tired.

I have been like that in the past. Two of my special interests have caused me a lot of anxiety, and similarly to you one was a very sensitive subject that people found my interest in very morbid. Thankfully my interest in both of these has waned in the last year or so, which is a relief.

Most of my interests now give me positive feelings. I don't feel guilty or worried about how much I obsess unless someone else points it out which does not happen very often. Sometimes I get worn out if I am in the first phase of an interest, because I tend to stay up late obsessing about it or forgetting to eat properly or exercise as much as I should.

I hope you feel better soon, Dots. Perhaps you aren't enjoying your interest as much today because you are already quite stressed out?

I tend to just focus really well on what ever my interest is. Occassionally I get really, really tired and dont have the energy for anything though. I dont tend to get tired or worked up, im usually fairly emotionless when focusing. One of mine I usually feel happy when doing.

Maybe there is another version of your special interest that would be relaxing - like a different type or different aspect of what it is now?

Thanks, SilkySifaka. It might be because I'm stressed out. I had a sensory overload earlier.

Cogs, I don't know if this is special interest or stimming, but the song "Nobody's Side" from the musical Chess: I know the names of every actress who recorded that song, and how long each version of the song is. It calms me down to list them, either alphabetically by actress, or numerically by time.

My special interests relax me and help me to feel happy. My special interests have also been my strongest autistic trait. I would feel lost without my special interests.

It depends, because I don't always hyperfocus. If I have trouble concentrating on my interest, it can feel wrong, almost like an overload. I think it's because I attempt to multitask while listening to music, maybe I shouldn't, but I want to keep myself busy while doing other things. At times when I'm really into it it's fantastic, my internal monologue is like 'Wow, so many feelings!' for that song or whatever. Sometimes I think I'm going to explode with such feelings.

My special interest gets me all "wound up" too. Since it involves movies, I get very excited and have the urge to get up and pace/run around when I watch them (though over time I have taught myself to wait until the movie's finished first). I also get very excited whenever I talk about them or read things about them online.

I get excited, relaxed and happy. Sometimes I find it a little difficult to sit still, as I get so excited. They're possibly the things that make me feel truly happy. Sometimes if I'm thinking about them, I'll smile to myself, as I'm doing right now. Although it can be a bit painful sometimes. Like right now, I heard that the second volume of The Grand Dukes is coming out this summer, but they haven't given a date yet. The wait is just killing me!! ! I'm so excited, I'm so anxious. I'm racing through the books I'm reading now, and also preparing the bookshelf and all other things for The Grand Dukes Volume 2's arrival.

Excited, happy, and relaxed!

Well, I don't much care for the influence of powerful lobbies.

I sometimes think that if I didn't have my special intense interests that I would be most unmotivated in life. During challenging times in my life, it has been these interests that have helped get me through. I often engage in some activity or deep thought or research regarding my interests in order to get me through the day at work. I find my job can be difficult, so therefore these interests help me.

It depends really, if I'm engaging in my special interest by myself, it can be very relaxing, if however, I'm talking about it to someone else, I get very wound up and excited because I love sharing my interests with people. Running into my interest somewhere unexpected (like in a book or somebody else's conversation) gets me very excited too, and I'll usually drop what I'm doing to pursue it. I never really noticed before, but thinking about it, I think I would be very lost in life if it weren't for my special interests. They fill up most of my free time and make me happy in ways that most other things just can't. I find it hard to imagine how NTs function without something to obsess over at the end of the day.

Omg cats was my special interest all through elementary school I still know the musical by heart