Have you ever been able to redirect your special interest?

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Those things save people's lives.

Yep! After my interest turned from rock climbing to carabiners, I went mad buying all different brands, styles etc. I think I now own over 100 carabiners but I'm glad the interest in rock climbing in general ended because it was bloody expensive.

And I never did go rock climbing!

No, but I do get bored with some after I've learned everything I can about. For example about 8 years ago building air infiltration and air quality was a special interest. After a few years I had learned almost everything I could and moved on to other interests.

No chance of being deflected for me. They just have to run their course. Some last a few weeks, others for years. But when over, its very difficult to look at them again. This is a particular pain then the subject of the obsession is something which is work related and i cant just discard it.

No, I really can't control it when I get hit with one. It's like a virus and has to run it's course, though I find I can "starve" it sometimes. Also, if I don't have a strong obsession, it's like I have no compass, no guidance, like I need it just to live. An obsession or drive to do a certain activity (I am compelled to really do my obsessions, not just learn about them) is extremely difficult to truly redirect, IMO. I have to be careful of which ones I feed because I have learned how painful, frustrating, and even anxiety-inducing it is to not be able to carry them out to completion. There are some things I want to do, but I don't because they would be too expensive, or my mind is already too absorbed in a current, long- standing interest and the other new one just doesn't have the attraction or pull as the other. I also have this thing where I feel the need to be "consistent" and "dependable" and there are times when I have actually felt guilty for losing interest in a topic. This isn't helped when someone close to you criticizes you for being all excited about something and then not being all excited about it.