Special interest got the better of me

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My current special interest started out pretty tame, but then grew and grew and now is the only thing I pay attention to when I am not otherwise engaged.

I think I must get it under control and do something more constructive but then feel I am betraying myself by avoiding my special interest.

Do you ever get to that point where you think: "I must stop doing this now!"

When I get absorbed in my special interest, I generally don't stop till I see it through to its conclusion. This includes writing short stories, producing songs, or those times where I rode my bike 100 miles from Point A to Point B.

That is what I do. Its as though I have to exhaust it completely and will not feel settled or satisfied until it is done. It has meant me getting up very early and attending to it.

It would come in handy if I could turn off from it when I wanted.

If its safe to continue pursuing, then i say pursue till exhaustion. Otherwise you may end up convincing yourself you can keep it as an ongoing project and never finish it

I have trouble turning it off once it's started too. I feel like it has to run its course.

My special interest seems like it will never end, unless the company stops putting out new versions. Sometimes it is the enormity of mastering all aspects of one thing that draws me the most.

I just go with it unless it's detrimental in some way -- i.e. if it's something that costs money, or if it's keeping me from doing my work (not uncommon for me).

But if it's basically harmless, I'll just comb and comb and comb over it and enjoy it.

I have to organise myself for a job interview and I fear my special interest is going to win me over. The trouble with it is that it will not end soon. I am entering data on a database of all music I liked since 1980, I have got up to 1998 now and figured I will stop at 1999 but I am sure I will continue into 2000s as well. It is too addictive.

I agree with the others, having an all-absorbing special interest (a fairly redundant statement but whatever) is not a bad thing until it starts usurping the important things in life like work and school and such. I have an interesting problem right now in which one of my special interests is overshadowing the other, but it's the other that I need to work on for school (I'm writing two papers about ASD's, but can't get them started because I'm too busy playing Neopets!) So, if it were to turn out that I never got my papers written because of the special interest that was taking up all my time, that would be problematic, but until then, it's fine, just enjoy it. It's one of the good things about having AS in my opinion.