How do you deal with your obsessiveness?

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Hi, I'm new to the community. I have to say, I'm really glad to be able to speak to people who have similar minds. Obsessiveness is definitely an intimidating behavior to Neurotypicals (and to myself). I'm really good at not taking my behavior personally (otherwise I'd think I was mental lol!). I just recognize it as my brain being overly focused, ritualistic, and deeply habitually passionate. Lately however I've noticed that I'm feeling random bouts of anxiety/compulsiveness (to probably deal with said anxiety). It feels as though I get anxiety when I don't have something to be compulsive about (by compulsive, I mean astrology, numerology, Archetypes, handwriting analysis, etc). It feels almost as if I'm running out of things to be obsessed about, and I'm kinda worried about finding another subject that can entertain me to the level (which is pretty high) of the prior. The urge to be obscenely intricately involved with something soooo specific is killing me. It's exhausting to keep up with

So how do you deal with your desire to obsess/be hyper-vigilant? Any preventative measures? I think my obsessions may be a blankie for my feelings of being out of control (not knowing how other people are thinking, or feeling, or responding to me and thus not knowing how to respond). Even in conversation when I'm upset, or having a meltdown I talk in repetitive circles hoping for something to change by the next cycle of repetitive sentences. I definitely find medical marijuana to help even in as small doses as I get, but I'd like to be able to use my brain powers instead of that.

Thanks!

I'm in a similar situation to yours. My current interests (Johnny Depp movies and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) hit their peak a couple of years ago, and even though I still deeply care about them, I'm no longer really obsessed with them, per se. I can relate to the feeling of worrying about running out of things to obsess over and feeling like nothing can ever make you feel that obsessive again, because I have spent the past year looking for something new for my brain to latch onto - a new obsession - but nothing I have tried has "clicked" with me so far. It feels like I have tried just about everything under the sun but for some reason a new obsession is just not happening!

(And lest anyone get the wrong idea, I do not "choose" my obsessions; I merely expose myself to different subjects in the hopes that my brain will latch onto one of them)

Even though there are a lot of things I enjoy on a general level (like the aforementioned Johnny Depp movies and My Little Pony), I really miss the feeling of being completely immersed in one or two subjects to the exclusion of everything else. In the beginning (first several months) I was very upset that I had lost my passion for my obsessions, but now that I have more or less come to terms with it, I am just really, really bored. Life is boring without obsessions, at least in my case.

Find a new hobby with lots of categories. Insects, aquarium fish, trees, selective breeding all come to mind.

I go with it. My obsessiveness is my biggest strength. In academia, being obsessive about your research topic is a significant asset - especially since I find it hard to concentrate unless I'm interested!

I like my minds ability to stay on the same topic and find all the relevant details, it makes for learning a lot of interesting things and such. But its a terrible trait when it comes to anxiety and depression because then that ends up being what my mind obsesses on making it even harder to break out of it than if I didn't have that obsessive trait. The past couple years I've had a hard time really finding a consuming interest to obsess over as my life's been rather stagnant and my mental health has declined if anything which leaves more time for obsessing over those various issues...I think if I could find something that might help me some.


I haven't had marijuana recommended by a doctor, so I cant say medicinal marijuana....but in general I do find it helpful for that since it slows all that down a bit so I can either relax or get my thoughts organized rather than being totally overwhelmed by everything.

I can't say I have experienced a lack of things to obsess on. I am the sort that if locked in solitary confinement indefinitely would simply live in the realm of my mental interior spaces. I talk to myself a lot and have fairly intense dreams and visualisations.

The only time where I attempt to redirect or tweak what I am obsessed about is where an obsession is harmful. This generally involves a month or two of rigorous mental weaning off an old obsession and a move to a new obsession. Generally, it means I have to change my environment and by doing so, new obsessions mushroom out of nowhere.

So, advice on developing new obsessions is simply to immerse yourself in a totally new environment. For example, if you don't walk in the forests or visit beaches, start doing so and observe the cycles and rhthyms of nature. If you don't do gardening, start doing so and observe what the plants, insects and birds are up to. If you never go into the back streets of the city, go there and visit the more exotic shops and talk to people of other cultures. Before you know it, something will catch your attention.

Obsess! Obsess! Obsess!

I embrace and celebrate my obsessiveness. The Kinks saved me from Suicide.

Without my obsessions I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

Wreck it ralph I am obsessed with !