Define "Aspergers obsessions" please

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Is this and obsession? I watched all 9 seasons of the x files in about a month or two which was around 200 hours.

DSM-IV-TR says:

"the preoccupations are all-encompassing and interfere with the acquisition of basic skills"

"Often these are primarily manifest in the development of encompassing preoccupations about a circumscribed topic or interest, about which the individual can amass a great deal of facts and information (Criterion B1). These interests and activities are pursued with great intensity often to the exclusion of other activities"

"whereas in Asperger's Disorder these are primarily observed in the all-encompassing pursuit of a circumscribed interest involving a topic to which the individual devotes inordinate amounts of time amassing information and facts"

All-encompassing seems to be the common theme.

In respons to this, I feel like quoting myself from earlier in this thread.and


This is weird to read, since.. well, they told me the opposite in the final assessment interview were we went over the report. They told me the fact that I didn't only obsess about Aspergers, but also comorbids of Asperger, and the introspection I did to dig up information from my past related to Asperger, all pointed in the direction of it NOT being Asperger obsessions. I do realize they use ICD as a guide, instead of DSM, but I don't see how they can be pure opposites of eachother.

ICD-10 puts it as:

I think that there is much more to being diagnosed with AS than it being just about being obsessed with certain things.everyone has various traits and they all add up...there is lots of people that might just have interests in things...but AS is a combination of symtoms and behaviour that affects the way you relate to things in your life..and the people around you..so getting diagnosed based on wither you have an obsession or not would not be fair .

Ahh, thanks for pointing this out for me. I was royally confused when they used "all-encompassing" and "circumscribed" to describe the interest. But I see now that "circumscribed" is how the interest should be if its Asperger related. I like discussing it on macro levels like this, it gives me better insight into the disorder/syndrome. I must admit, since english is not my native language, I did have to look up the definition of "all-encompassing" and "circumscribed" a couple of times before I actually understood the definition of Aspergers special interests.

I guess its all relative to your reference. Some find psychology interesting, some finds football interesting. While others finds a specific topic within these areas interesting, a specific football club or a specific disorder/syndrome. Compared to the broad topics of psychology/neurology, Aspergers and all its comorbids is a circumscribed interest, but compared to only focusing on Aspergers, I guess its not. Its all a matter of reference. But hey, I am glad one thing they told me turned out to be accurate.

Of course, you are right. I ask about obsessions because they did tell me I had 45-55% of all Asperger traits, and they drew the line for a diagnosis roughly around 70% (these are all numbers I deducted from how they showed it to me on the desk while gesticulating). And since I was that close, and they specificly said I had no Aspergers obsessions, thats the thing I chose to focus my attention on. If it makes up for 15-25%, I doubt, but I want them to paint an as accurate picture as possible of me in the report. If this thing, and one other thing they mentioned puts me above that 70% line they drew, then I actually have Aspergers, and I wouldn't want not get that diagnosis if I actually have it. Thats why I ask about obsessions, not because I think that thing alone will give my a diagnosis.

My boyfriend got diagnosed in Denmark but he's pretty mild (other than occasional related depression). His interests are specific and he spends a lot of time pursuing them, but they are not really pathological. Also he doesn't have that many sensory issues. I have met some other diagnosed people and they didn't seem to have that obsessive interests either.

Yes.
I would class his WoW obsession as a aspie type obsession as well.

Honestly, I think this is why video games are really bad for us. Unless we're making them ourselves, we can waste a grandiose amount of time, progressing in it, but creating nothing in real life. I'm not knocking it, but this is why I axed my video game playing when I was 13 and noticed I was doing it 14 hours straight. It's a bit toxic for us, hooking our obsessiveness to something with little or no value.

Note: Temple Grandin agrees with me on this.

Watching a few seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in one sitting isn't a symptom of anything...

That was not me who said that.

An obsession is a special interest that brings you much joy. My special interests are what make me happy. Obsessions aren't diseases that need to be cured.

A small update about me and my obsession, namely World of Warcraft.

I deleted 11x chars at lvl85 or higher. I deleted all gear on all my chars, deleted them, gave away all items of value, gave away all my gold, and cancelled my subscription.

If I divide all the hours I spent ingame over 8 hour days of work (including holidays and weekends) my 6 years(Sorry. It was 6 years, not 7 as mentioned earlier) of playing WoW would be equal to 7 years of a fulltime job. Or to equate it to something with the same timeline, a fulltime job for 6 years with an average of 1.3 hours overtime each day.

It sounds insane when I crunched the numbers like that. And if I had included all the research/administrative work/educational work (wow related) I did while outside the game aswell, the numbers would have been even worse.

It's been one week since I stopped. Youtube and books has taken up most of the freed time for now. Time will tell how this pans out.

I am fairly certain a new obsession(addiction?) will just replace it, but I will try to stear away from it for a little while, to see if it's possible. And if its not, I hope to focus more on productive interests like kickboxing or webprogramming. I hope to find a focal point soon, or else my mind might explode..

Wish me luck!

Have you ever considered Obsessive-compulsive disorder? Autism isn't just about obsessions, but mainly about social blindness. I also don't think asperger's obsessions are distressfull, in my case is much more like a natural tendency, I feel completly relaxed when I'm in my thoughts. It's like shutting off from the rest of the world, but not in a way that makes me feel guilty, as if I am losing some oportunity to be with other people. That level of distress you are reporting may be related to OCD.

My obsession takes all my time and energy, theres nothing else I'd rather be watching, drawing, thinking about. My entire room is plastered in Sonic and other characters face, my schoolbooks are filled with drawings. It's all ive drawn for 5 years going on 6 and i never get sick of it.

The Aspergers special interests can Vary from Interested, to utterly obsessed. Hours and Hours of research, millions of drawings, watching the same video or shows over and over, talking nonstop about it. And it being the ONLY interest (sometimes people with aspergers can have one or more, it varies) and it can be about ANYTHING. Tv shows, books, physics, Characters, THE M&M CHARACTERS for crying out loud!

and its like a addiction, a drug; it makes life better, i can imagine a day without drawing sonic or thinking about sonic.