How 'permanent' are aspie obsessions? Versus depression?

Post Reply New Topic

As the topic suggests, I want to know more about how much these interests tend to shift, or not shift, for others who are on the spectrum. And I'm curious if anyone has experience or insight into how depression could potentially interface with these.

I ask because the things I suppose I focus on seem to be phasing out... But I also wonder if my fight with depression is affecting that. Actually, I'm sure that it is, somewhat. I just don't know to what degree would be reasonable to guess.

For instance, it wasn't long ago that I'd be content to spend hours and hours every day just reading and watching news, even if there wasn't anything particularly worth paying attention to(comparatively). But today, when I think to myself, 'Hm, I haven't checked in on Foreign Policy's >Passport blog in a while.. I really should,' it is swiftly followed up with '....meh...' which in turn prompts a mental 'WTF?'

This broader topic of world news & politics was something I'd started getting into gradually more and more over the course of a few years, and I suppose it reached it's apex a few months ago before I started inexplicably not bothering. I mean, I still feel like I'm interested, alot, but obviously not interested enough to keep up like I used to... I don't know what to make of it.

Nearly identically, my interests with audio engineering and music production fell off a cliff. If I wasn't reading news, I guarantee you I was either practicing sound design, mixing technique, and music theory, or practicing it. However, this topic has another potential variable in the form of artistic frustration, soo... *shrug*

But nonetheless, those two items reflect the things I'd peg as my primary interests. And now I barely bother with them.

On the other hand, if I step back at look at the larger picture, I note that I barely can retain interest in anything nowadays. Movies or shows are nothing but a thing to kill time, nearly all games leave me bored, I don't feel especially compelled to read a book, etc.

I understand that depression mutes one's ability to take pleasure in.. well, everything, but the degree is really starting to worry me. Somehow I had thought that at least my main interests would be able to push through.

If anyone has experienced this, or has thoughts on the matter, I'd like to read 'em.

As an added question related to this, but without regard to depression, do others find their interests shift over time?

Varied duration obsessions of mine: geology, rock collecting, greek alphabet, poetry, body building, skateboarding, knife throwing, juggling, religion, psychic phenomena, dinosaurs, cars, final fantasy XI, gran turismo 3~4.

Unchanging obsessions: physics, scientific philosophies, geometry, number theory, unified field theories, books, knowledge.


It is normal to have variation, I would expect few lifelong interests to truly hold, and not mourn the wax and wane of new or old ones, it is a chance to round out your knowledge and understanding more!

From my perspective, depression is something that changes you permanently. I learned to get past alot of stuff, and I odn't feel sad all day every day, but I learned that life is not a game that can be won.

I haven't had a specific interest in years. I just keep shifting around; nothing lasts for more than a couple days.

Regarding depression, I suggest meditative therapies, it is important to recognize that while life can be hard, and seem unbearable, the alternative is always worse.

obsessions that change: World of Warcraft, Star Wars, RPG's and so on.

obsessions that have stayed with me: Learning about space, airplanes, history, reading fantasy, want to know as much as I can, writing (wish I was better at it.), music.

I am an avid reader......for 6 months at the end of 2007, I could not look at a book......was it depression that caused it, or the lack of reading that caused depression? Not sure, dear one.

But now I am back to my 3 books a week, and all is good. But now I am sick of the same material. So at my library I just pick books at random, hoping to stumble across some other good authors.

My constants have always been science, reading, writing......but I do find that they wax and wane in intensity.

Have no fear......lately all I have been interested in is cleaning the mould out of the grout in my shower with a toothbrush and some Gumption.......oh and shopping for a specific handbag......obsessed with it really. Not sure why.

Oh and hours upon hours of Solitaire. I am trying not to let it get to me because the whole time that I am fixated on this petty stuff, I am thinking "There is physics to be learnt, there is a book to write(yep, that is like pulling teeth), there is STUFF to fix.......so you can function as a human being. NOT INTERESTED.

I have learnt to let it go, even if it terrifies me that I will be stuck forever in these terrible fugues. Self-talk during these times is very important......

Take good care of yourself.......watch as much news as you want. The passions shall return. Your brain is just "defragging".

Mics

At any given time I usually have one or two significant interests that tend to shift every few years along with one or two seemingly random minor interests that may last for a few days or weeks. I think the shifts happen because I get to a point with each interest where I feel like I've absorbed all the fun and interesting knowledge about it and only have the boring and uninteresting parts left to digest, so the subject just doesn't have the same obsessive pull that it once did. Sometimes there are periods of blahs or boredom between losing one interest and discovering another, but those are usually brief.

My interests have changed radically over the last few years. They were far more static when I was a child, teen, early twenties etc.

I just seem to hit a point where I'm either not learning any more, or not enjoying things so much. Interests seem subject to the law of diminishing returns. I think I used to cling onto things, trying desperately to wrest some more enjoyment from them, way longer than I should have.

I too used to be an obsessive audio geek. I just packed it in one day 'cos I realised it was causing me more grief than joy.

I've been obsessed with music, my whole entire life.

My obsession with anime and Japanese culture in general lasted about 11 years, from the time I was 8 to a little after I turned 19. Obsessions with individual anime series typically lasted between 6 months and 3 years.

Now I'm obsessed with various live-action movies. Which one I'm obsessed with at a given time changes on a daily or, if I'm lucky, weekly basis. On one hand, I wish my fixations could be a little more stable like my childhood/adolescent obsessions. On the other hand, having seen a lot of movies makes social interaction a little easier, since the majority of people love movies.

Last edited by IdahoRose on 30 Apr 2010, 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think my meerkat obsession is going with me to the grave. I don't think I'm going to loose my Titan A.E. one for awhile either.

I've been clinically depressed 3 times in my life. My experience has been that nothing, as far as interests go, is able to push through a full blown depression. It doesn't matter how intense the interest was. That is, as you pointed out, one of the hallmark signs of depression.

My thought on the matter is to seek a professional to discern the cause of your depression. It could be burn out, overwhelming life stress, a crisis (like a significant loss or death), seasonal affective disorder, psychological triggers coming up from your past, PTSD...the causes are varied and the treatment will vary depending on the cause. I would strongly warn against taking Prozac or Paxil. They are evil drugs that will totally screw you up worse (the horror stories of these drugs are endless), especially if, like most on the spectrum, you are highly sensitive to drugs.

I got in touch with a person whom I have had a 20 year on again, off again obsession with this last weekend. Even after everything, he added me as a friend on Facebook. For the first time in my life, I am not quite sure how to approach him, whereas I used to jump into contact with him with both feet. Due to this it always ended miserably.

Part of the trepedation has to do with a situation that I had a year and a half ago with another friend that ended miserably. The situation made me very depressed (I had put tons of money, time and effort into friendship with him and into his flooded community). I guess once you go through a depressive episode, it makes you more calculated.

My obsessions can last a couple of hours, to a day, to a few weeks to a month. I usually jump between focusing on them during a week or month though.

When I think about spending time on one that I haven't spend I long time on I get a 'can't be bothered' feeling which to me just sounds like I don't want to go through all the steps to start spending time on one. For my astronomy I need to set up the telescope, put on thick clothes and get all my paperwork. It goes without saying that I put this one off the most. Then there's my photography and drawing. They still take a couple of steps. I usually just look up things on the internet because all it takes is a search engine. Ha, yeah I'm lazy.

i wonder if the term "special interest" is an oversimplistic and short-sighted diagnostic thing. i'd call it "obsessive about interests" if it were me that wrote the criteria.

my interests come & go. i don't lose interest in anything, but i can generally only focus on one thing at a time, so when a new thing screams louder, the previous thing gets shelved for awhile. what's consistent is that whatever it is that i'm focusing on gets all of my attention while things like brushing my teeth, paying bills, and decluttering my apartment get zero until i reach a natural point of pulling myself away from it without massive internal argument.

EDIT: i forgot to address the purpose of the original post. when depression hits, interests do get foggy. but it works both ways: focusing on an interest can really help get me out of it. it's when i try to be outwardly focused that i get depressed, personally.

In my earlier post, I forgot to to mention depression and its impact on obsessions. One of the symptoms of depression is losing interest in things you once loved, so it makes sense that you aren't as passionate about things as you used to be.