How do you deal with hyperfixations?

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I just throw myself into a hyperfixation and let it take over. And generally write stories about it, haha.

I am really lucky that I have an email friend who doesn't mind me rambling on about my hyperfixations, because she has them too, but hers tend to stick around longer than mine e.g. she gets obsessed with various racing drivers and sends me endless photos of them in various outfits, so I do have to tell her to calm down sometimes.

But my fixations doesn't last very long. They are usually about films/ TV shows/ books etc. I've found fandoms are very helpful because they are full of people who are hyperfixated on the same things as I am!

Fixate on them.

Because of my executive dysfunctions, I knew if I go on to another thing I may not come back to it or not come back to it for a long time.

Is that 24-72 hours without sleep?

I also fixate on things and then seem to totally drop them from my memory.

edit
I think you say later that you don't eat or drink for 24 hours. So I am guessing that means sleep to.
I have to sleep, I was once up for 34 hours working on someone else's fixation, a down interface engine. It was not fun at all. However, when I am fixated on a story, my sleep pattern will sometime change. 5am - 11pm, up again at 3:30 am - 9pm, up at 2am - 4am, up at 5am - 10:30pm. It's not brain healthy.

Last edited by pcgoblin on 10 Aug 2023, 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I write stories as well, but I am the suckiest crap writer. I'll wake up, open the password encrypted file, and type all day, with breaks as I get distracted. My stories get locked up with password encryption, and then compressed into a file of stories that is also password encrypted. There have been times I've forgotten the password. R.I.P. stories.

It sounds like everyone just kind of lives with it and no one has solutions or coping strategies (so far)

I'm partly disappointed and I feel partly vindicated about not being able to manage it better

I love having the passion I do when hyperfixated. But yeah, it can be a challenge to not let it interfere with other areas of living.

Honestly if there were a magic pill I could take to make me stop having them, I'd hesitate to take it, even though I know it would make me a more functional person. Being absorbed in things is fun

You don't have to be a good writer, the aim is just to get the stories out and enjoy them myself. Never mind what other people think, you're writing FOR YOU.

Can I ask why you need solutions? Don't you enjoy your hyperfixations? Sorry if I've misunderstood.

I enjoy them a lot, but they sometimes become a big problem in my life. I failed to graduate university largely because of being distracted by hyperfixations at random times, when I should have been studying (I otherwise loved my courses and scored very well on all my assignments).

Currently it's causing the problem of keeping me from working on a wedding gift for my friend. I'm going to have to finish making it in the car (luckily it's a long drive, but I'm cutting it very close)

These are both things I care a lot about, but in the midst of a hyperfixation my brain just can't hold onto them. I only care about the fixation at the time (or rather, part of me only cares about the fixation and another part in the back of my mind is upset that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing, but can't get through to the rest of me. It's hard to explain)

My ideal brain would be able to turn hyperfixations on and off like a faucet- if I had a lot of free time coming up, I could let myself become obsessed with something, and then put it on "pause" when I needed to switch to doing something important.

Oh right I see, they are interfering with your life. Maybe mine aren't so strong. But I cope with mine by endlessly writing about them and making files about them.

Yes, turning hyperfixations and general autism off would be great wouldn't it.

I get hyperfixations when I'm stressed. I can never quite tell if they're making me more stressed, or if they're the only thing keeping me going.

Oh thanks you've just put a piece of the puzzle in place for me!! ! I tend to get stressed and lonely over Christmas and summer so I tend to get hyperfixations then. So my solution is to write stories over those times and throw myself into those. I now have a program of story writing to keep me distracted over Christmas and summer so I've got little checkpoints to lift me every few days.

^I'm not sure that makes any sense!