being responsible when you have a hyperfixation

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colliegrace
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24 Feb 2024, 7:50 am

I am having my first hyperfixation in like 5 years and I am having the timeee of my life! But also.....

It's very hard to concentrate at work.


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autisticelders
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24 Feb 2024, 8:36 am

interesting, isn't it? good on you for recognizing that you need to separate the two things. Cheering you on, postponing the fun can only make it last longer... anticipation is fun too.


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ToughDiamond
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24 Feb 2024, 2:05 pm

The most difficult thing for me is ending a session with whatever it is I'm hyperfocussed on. I always manage it eventually, but it's often later than I'd planned it to be, and that can mess with other commitments.



Elgee
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25 Feb 2024, 8:15 pm

OP, what is your new hyperfixation? My last one was eye contact in autism. I'm so afraid I won't ever have another one ever again. I'm not exactly 29 anymore. As we all know, you can't force a SPIN to come on. A SPIN must find you. I can't even get back into my former SPINs. I do have several longterm ones that I know are permanent, though.

One of them is racial mixes. Allow me to do a little info dump. I began talking to this woman at the gym in the locker room; I wanted to feel her hair. So I sized her up by complimenting her on it, asking about the dog she'd always bring with her in a bassinet, and then, when I felt the timing was right, asked to feel her hair. She was more than glad to allow me. Based on her hair, facial features and natural tan, I speculated she was "quarter-racial," that is, one-fourth black, three-fourths white.

However, asking her her racial makeup would be getting too personal, so I decided to just keep wondering.

Then one day she comes up to me, seems tentative and a bit uneasy, and asks if she could ask me a "weird" question. I said, "Yes, nothing's too weird for me."

She asked if I'd been in jail. Turns out, SHE had served two weeks for beating up a man, and swore that one of the inmates looked exactly like me (No, I was never in jail).

After she asked her "weird" question, I knew I could get away with asking her about her racial makeup. I began by asking if she was quarter-racial. Turns out, she IS one-quarter black, but half white and one-quarter Native American. So I almost got it right! She was rather impressed!



colliegrace
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25 Feb 2024, 10:45 pm

Elgee wrote:
OP, what is your new hyperfixation? My last one was eye contact in autism. I'm so afraid I won't ever have another one ever again. I'm not exactly 29 anymore. As we all know, you can't force a SPIN to come on. A SPIN must find you. I can't even get back into my former SPINs. I do have several longterm ones that I know are permanent, though.


Yeah, I just missed having a SPIN at all.

It's Hazbin Hotel this time around


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ASD, most likely have dyscalculia & BPD as well. Also dx'd ADHD-C, but don't think it's accurate.
RAADs: 104 | ASQ: 30 | Aspie Quiz: 116/200 (84% probability of being atypical)

Also diagnosed with: seasonal depression, anxiety, OCD


jamie0.0
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26 Feb 2024, 12:05 am

I've been there.
It can be really difficult to concentrate on working while hyperfixating on something else

Thinking about something else while at work is harmless mostly, unless you find your performance dipping. Then it could be worthwhile putting effort into focusing on work activities, if the job has a routine, I find it beneficial to offer to help someone do something that is not a usual part of the job. Usually this requires thought and attention and that is a good thing if you find your mind wondering.

Mind you sometimes my fixations get the best of me, and then the best I can do is try to do what I usually do to a reasonable expectation while my brain is filled with fixation.