Do you ever go through phases with your interests?

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I've noticed that I often go through phases with my interests, where I'll be absolutely obsessed with a certain band or game or whatever one week, but the next I'll have very little interest in that thing, and I'll have moved on to something else. Often times however, if I'm deeply interested in something and I move onto something else later on, I'll get bored of the thing I moved on to and go back to the thing I was obsessed with before.

Does this at all run counter to having "special interests"? I mean, one could say that my "special" interests are music and computers, and gaming to a smaller extent, but I have so many "sub-interests" of those interests that I am constantly going through phases with, that it makes me wonder if I actually have "special interests" in the traditional sense. It just seems kind of strange to me that I can be absolutely obsessed with something one week, and be completely obsessed with something else the next.

The Squid can change interests within his interest, but rarely does his interest change. o.O (I.E. Retro video games are more fun right now.)

My interests change all the time as well.

I like video games, but once I've played a game to the point that it's boring, I'll walk away from it for a while. Then, I'll get into it again and go back to it while abandoning another.

I might get away from video games altogether if I have something else that takes up enough time that I just don't have time to spare for the video games.

I think it's more of whatever gets priority of your "special interests" as compared to just not being interested in it anymore.

Short answer - yes.

Less obsessive now that I'm on anti-anxiety meds, which is interesting, but still yes.

Also less absorbed in my obsessions as I get older, which is quite freeing!

I would do this changing of interest thing.

Then I found out I had cyclothymia and it all made sense. I would downcycle for a week to two weeks, where I'd lose interest in what I had before. Then when I'd go back to normal and later upcycle, I might have stayed with the interest I had before, or I might switch to something else. I finally got to the point, where I refused to take up new activities and interests. I've decided that I will stick it out with Gaming, and Arts & Craft.

I have Special Interests that are life long (longest being Astronomy since I was around 3 years old - now 47) and I've had/have special Interests that last from a few months to over 10 years. The one/s that are current ALWAYS without exception ABSOLUTELY CONSUME my entire life and I LOVE IT. Every waking moment is taken up by them. I eat, sleep, $#]T and even dream about my Special Interests. They cost me a lot of money, buying books, programs, apps, items associated with, etc.

Young people don't know how easy an Aspie has it these days. In the old days before the Internet, we were forced to carry home piles and piles of books from the library (if you could find books on your Special Interests) and once you'd exhausted all of the local libraries, you had to travel by bus or train to borrow from neighbouring suburbs/cities libraries. I practically grew up in the school's library. Encyclopaedias were among my friends back then. The reference section of the library, my home. Now, you can get far more information all in the comfort of your own home! It's an Aspie's dream come true!! !

I remember reading an article once that claimed Aspies get some sort of stimulating hormone release (that NTs don't) from doing their Special Interest. I can't remember exactly what the article said but I don't doubt it. When I was heavily into C programming and TCP/IP, I would get home from work and program up to 3 in the morning. When I first got with my partner/wife/thing, she couldn't understand how that was my form of relaxation/rejuvenation but after seeing me do it constantly for our whole time together, she understood it was how I relaxed. I don't think she fully understood what I got from it but she could see that my obsession made me happy.

Yup deffinatly!! !

My interests come and go, and then come back again.

Getting interested in astronomy again, just bought a my telescope this past year. Back into model railroading big time - took it all back out of the boxes after it being packed away for ten years.

Still love gardening, so happy that spring is here.

Was big on military equipment (warships, tanks, fighter jets) for a long time but could care less about them now.

I definitely went through phases. Heck, my Illinois Central avatar is from the train phase I went through in mid 2000's. It's actually a great explanation for NTs who ask "how do you know so much about [whatever]?". I just tell them: "such-and-such years ago, I went through a phase when I was into [whatever]". While NTs typically look down on special interests, they seem to have no problem with this answer.

In fact, the past Saturday, me and my friend went hiking on a bike path where a steam railroad once ran. We saw ruins of stone bases that were once foundations for water and coal towers serving the trains running there. I pointed out those ruins, and my friend loved the historical facts I gave him.

Yes this happens to me.

Yes! Same here! I get very engrossed with a particular interest, then after a time it fades and another takes its place. Over time I tend to go back to them and it seems cyclic in nature for me. It is almost like I need some downtime from a particular interest perhaps just to absorb what I have learned? I tend to become very intense in them so I am not sure if it is similar to becoming burnt out and needing time away before going back? So for me this is quite normal. And as time has progressed, I have gathered more and more interests. But interestingly the core of which are quite similar in most cases. Such as many are dealing with electronics or photography just different aspects of them.

Is it also normal that sometimes, one of my special interests will take precedence over another? For instance, I've gone through periods where I was completely absorbed by building and fixing computers, but I wouldn't have much interest in gaming or listening to music.

I can't say for others but that pattern is quite normal to me. When an interest is put aside for a time, I have NO desire to touch it until something clicks to jump back into the fray. Otherwise it might as well not exist for me. Be nice if someone had an explanation for this kind of behaviour.