Asperger's Curiosity Decline?

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I too have noticed my obsessions aren't as intense or frequent as they used to be. I tend to get obsessed with TV shows - I'll search for spoilers online and it's all I think about when I'm in work. But once the show ends, or even if it's during the gap between seasons, I'll forget about it. It's almost as if I lose interest once I can no longer find new information.

I suspect the antidepressant I'm on has something to do with it. It's not the depression because I'm not actually depressed but these drugs tend to dull your emotions so you don't feel pleasure as intensely.

Have you thought of using something like St. Johns Wort instead? I just started using it and its really helping me with my anxiety and depression. Someone had told me from another AS page that it can help reduce OCD patterns which are the main cause of AS related anxiety and depression. I had previously used prescription anti anxiety/depression meds, but they made me feel lethargic, gain weight, blood pressure increases etc.

I had been thinking about what makes my obsession rate so high and I think part of it is I tend to randomly look things up online a lot, sometimes just seeing something that strikes my curiosity and then before I know it I'm reading and studying about something and then depending on how interested I am, the possibility for an obsession may occur.

In school, I had very shoddy accommodations for a misdiagnosis. Now that I have the correct diagnoses, I can get better ones, like being able to take tests in a private, quiet room. I don't know if there are experts on Aspie learning styles. There probably are, but getting diagnosed also helps with accommodations like note-takers and extra time on tests and such.



I've never been overly fond of reading. I consider it a necessary evil in order to learn.
Is that a problem remembering it or simply a problem summarizing it? Being horrible at summarizing is a very common symptom of autism. That would be more of a speech/language problem than a memory problem. If you do retain the information but can't repeat it back to others, that might be something a speech-language therapist could help you with.



That sounds like just being a big-picture thinker who is bored by excessive detail. That's more a personality trait than a problem, although personality traits can become problems if they're too strong. Who cares what you ate yesterday? It's not like that's useful information unless you have to keep track because you're on a diet or something.



The teacher's enthusiasm and skill (or lack thereof) can have a huge influence on the student. I bet you'd be fine if you had good enough teachers.



You could definitely have the predominately inattentive kind, then. It's worth checking out. ADD is a chemical imbalance. If your brain isn't making enough chemicals, of course you won't be able to concentrate.
Yep, that's exactly the kind of things I do. Sometimes I'll forget a minus sign or add instead of subtract or copy a number incorrectly. I need to check and recheck everything very carefully, and I need a LOT of extra time on tests to be able to do it.



Thing is, you can't just memorize math. It can be a useful shortcut, but you absolutely have to understand the concepts. There shouldn't be little explanation. A good teacher or tutor will explain everything you need. Again, I definitely suggest Khan Academy for that.

I personally don't take any medicine for depression or insomnia or anything but
if needs must, the benefits might outweigh the side effects if the problem is quite severe.
I'm paranoid of drugs and processed foods, thinking they might contribute to the development of cancer or heart disease or something.
I may or may not be correct though. I don't trust vaccines either.


I get that sometimes, reading up on telomeres, DNA, cancer, how to live longer, reduce signs of aging, conspiracy theories, toxins
present in certain foods, etc.



Private/quiet room and extra time exams are good. Note taking hasn't been useful for me.
None of this really helps with the learning process though.


I'm not sure. Sometimes I'm pretty good at separating nonsense information from the useful
stuff and summarising logically. Other times, it's difficult.
In the case of reading generally, I think it's both a memory and summarisation problem.


I don't know, I think sometimes I think of the big picture (still not exactly sure what that means)
and sometimes I think in extreme detail; maybe it depends on the context?
Well I don't like learning boring details like numerical data of how many people
participated in a study or the volume and concentration used in a chemistry practical, etc.
Despite disliking numerical data, I remember as a child I still learnt the distance between
the Sun and the Earth (93 million miles from centre to centre)
and the number of hours in a day (23.93 hours a day...is it strange these both have the numbers 93 in them??? )
but numerical data isn't the only thing.


Lol I'm not sure they're that easy to come by.

Do you know how to restore the neurotransmitter/chemical balance? If so, how? (Preferably without medication, I prefer safe natural methods.)

I find the Khan Academy guy's voice a little annoying, not sure why but I hopefully I'll give it another go
and focus on the content, ignoring trivial imperfections. (I wonder if the black background is helpful, neutral or distracting. )
Thank you for that suggestion. Yeah I feel that I've never properly been taught why you must do things or
the exact list of rules.

Rhodiola rosea is good for focus and energy (and can also treat depression). It likely won't be as effective as stimulants, though, which are actually pretty safe as long as you don't have heart problems.



Could be a sensory issue. Those can definitely interfere with learning. You might want to try sensory integration therapy for that.
You're very welcome. I hope it helps. Very few people have been properly taught, sadly.

I hate it when that happens! I feel so alive under obsession!! I find that my mind is like a big black bag into which I throw details. I can't make sense of them or remember them until I hit a critical mass. Then I got it. Its being a gestalt learner.

I find something of some interest, its a bit of work to start then it begins to grow. Science may have worked for you as a general subject, but at this point in your life you may need to specialize in a specific field, like brain science may be too general so you specialize in embodied cognition. But you may want to do something outside of the realm of science altogether.

I have had a variety of obsessions throughout my life. This is just one of the joys of being autistic!

Last edited by Awiddershinlife on 22 Jun 2014, 8:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I feel very alive under obsession too. They do have a few detrimental effects such as not wanting to sleep at night, maybe waking up during the night, vivid dreams, and of course people get pretty tired of listening to me keep talking about it. The other drawback is occasionally I spend a lot of money on books and videos, video games, other items, which are related to the obsession.

I also get depressed when the obsession ends and I just never know how long its going to last. Sometimes its as low as a week sometimes a year, and if I try to go back to it, its just not the same. I do however learn a lot! I'm happy with who I am though.

Hello again I was taking a break from Wrong Planet, then came back and remembered my post here.

True Scientist- you like Doctor Who too? Awesome! Matt Smith is probably my favorite doctor, because he jokes around a lot, and that cheers me up when I'm in a bad mood. Also, I liked Amy and Rory, although River Song and her story were kind of weird David Tennent was pretty cool too though. I liked some of his episodes more than Matt Smith's, because his made me think more, whereas the Matt Smith ones focused more on jokes and creepy alien attacks.

Anyways, back to the topic of fading obsessions, I noticed you seemed upset that your current interests don't relate to a job. I've been having the same problem. Like, when I started my first year of community college last fall, it was with the intent of becoming an environmental scientist. I have always had a soft spot for animals, and since I am not quite obsessed, but interested in preventing species extinctions and climate change, I figured an environmental science career was the way to go. Unfortunately, I don't think I really realized what that meant. While I am interested in the TOPIC, I didn't really understand what I'd be DOING on a day-to-day basis. Like, if I wanted to prevent climate change, a related job might be inventing better solar panels. That would likely involve using math and physics, and I'm terrible and math and physics. Or, if I wanted to prevent species extinction, I would probably have to work outside in both good and bad weather, and be able to handle wild animals. While I like animals, I would probably be afraid to, say, pick up a bird or something, because I would worry it would bite me. Also, when those interests started to fade, I no longer saw a reason for pursuing those types of careers. Not really sure what to do now...

Anyways, sorry for not really giving advice I just wanted to let you know I can relate to what you're going through. You're not alone