Do you ever have weird days like this? Why does it happen?

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Yes, I'm feeling a bit better now, thank you. I just get weird days like that when I seem to get overloaded and agitated even though I'm alone in my room.

I'm very interested in abnormal psychology (if you and I mean the same thing that is). Is that something that interests you as well?



"Discombobulated". I like that word.

Thanks, I guess I know what a special interest is. It's just difficult to determine whether the things I like are special interests or just "normal" interests.

I would suggest that if they are things, as in things with an s, they aren't special interests, because a special interest is focused/singular and perseverative in nature, as pointed out by btbnnyr.

If you have just been diagnosed, or are exploring autism for purposes of self-discovery, and you research it excessively as a result, it's unlikely to be a special interest. If autism dominates your thoughts as an interest and you find yourself unable to pursue other interests because you are so obsessed with autism, it is more likely to be a special interest.

The DSM 5 criteria does not adopt the colloquial definition of 'interest'. Because of this, my interpretation is that a special interest doesn't necessarily have to be a topic/subject like autism. A person could have a 'special interest' in an object, such that they cannot stop thinking about that particular object, or they love that object. The commonality is the perseverative nature of the interest.

I'm very interested in abnormal psychology--I've been interested in it since I was about 11 or so.

Here's what it's like for me:

Sometimes I have interests I can't stop thinking about, speaking about etc. I was interested in astronomy for about a year a few years ago. Spent all my free time watching documentaries and reading books about it, I went out stargazing, thought about the universe all the time (even at work). That's one example. Autism was a special interest like that as well before.

Sometimes my interests are less intense but very long lasting. I'm very interested in psychology and neuroscience (and the combination of them). It's something I've been interested in for a long time (I've been very interested in certain sciences for as long as I can remember) and I spend quite a lot of time thinking and reading about it when I'm not studying (though I study things that have to do with those interests sometimes. Like now when I study neurobiology). It doesn't completely consume me though and I do other things as well: I read books about other topics (though I mostly read about psychology and neuroscience, no matter if it's fiction or non-fiction) and I watch other kinds of TV-series.

So I don't know if psychology/neuroscience is a special interest or not. I think it's difficult to determine. Perhaps I'm one of those people with AS that don't really have a specific special interest (my psychologist says my extremely intense interest in learning things can be seen as a kind of special interest though).

They sound like special interests to me. I was interested in astronomy for about a year as well, but it didn't dominate my mind in the fashion you have stated here. It was an obsession but not perseverative.



These don't sound like special interests.



I am no dictator on this matter, as my interpretations are not of expert status, but I would almost certainly disqualify any chance of them being so (and disagree with your psychologist here), because nothing differentiates them from an interest any person can have.

Again, we have similar interests. I have being interested in psychology and neuroscience my whole life. Unfortunately for myself I will not be going into a related career unlike btbnnyr (whose special interest neuroscience is), who I am sure could put any knowledge I have to shame. XD

I think you probably just thrive on intellectual stimulation.

I also think that if what you say is true regarding astronomy and autism, that you have had special interests. My autistic friend in real life has not had a special interest every waking moment of his life.

I have days like this every so often. Honestly it seems to happen on a monthly basis and for more than just one day, but I can also have random off days. On days like that it seems even trying to pursue my special interest just makes me irritated. Not really sure why.

The thing that's weird is that I have definitely noticed it seems to be a monthly thing (I haven't been specifically noting the times but that's what it seems anyway). But I don't have PMS, as I'm a male. I'm wondering what would cause that

I get lots of times like this. They can be entire weeks if I'm unlucky, sometimes though, it's just moments of extreme weirdness and unhappiness, they mainly occur at school. I can't really do anything about it, there's always a teacher blathering on.
I just zone out and think about my favourite book or current TV show, hypothesising about the characters. Time passes very slowly and I can't concentrate, I just get very bored. It happened today in my biology lesson, the temperature rapidly increased, I couldn't stand the texture of my frankly awful school uniform and people's conversations seemed like everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs.
So yes, I do have weird days.

I'm agitated and tired yet wired pretty much every day, and I can't stand it. Lack of sleep definitely makes it worse.

I can't work out if there's any physical basis (apart from sleep deprivation) to it, or whether it's just pure anxiety. As I told my psychologist the other day when she held up the 0-10 anxiety rating scale for me: there's never any time when my anxiety is 0, I always have some background anxiety.

At the very least, my anxiety level is 3.

I can relate to that. My anxiety level is rarely below 4. I have no idea what 0 anxiety feels like.

What about when you are focused on your interest?
Does you anxiety drop to 0?
I find that I am most relaxed when I am focused on my interest, although the things that I do related to my interest don't appear to be the most relaxing things.
I am also generally most relaxed when I have little else to do but to do focus on my interest for several days in a row.

I'm not sure I'd say it drops to 0 but I guess if get really focused on my interest I don't think of the anxiety that much. It's always, however, there at the back of my mind even when I'm focused on my interest. For me it's quite easy to get distracted by both external and internal stimuli and as soon as that happens the anxiety becomes more pronounced again. Do you know what I mean?

Yes, I know the constant anxiety at the back of the mind when I am anxioius about something over a period of time, it steals focus.

It sounds like it could be sensory overload. I get this frequently when I've been in an environment that's overstimulating (from either a sensory or a social standpoint) for too long; all of my senses become hyperacute, I get stressed and agitated, and sensory things that didn't bother me before now drive me crazy. My solution is to self-isolate. Find a dark, silent room and just sit there. Try to eliminate as many sensory distractions as possible (such as your socks and sweater), and stay there until you don't feel quite so crazy. Sometimes it can take a while. Good luck!