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dragonsanddemons
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27 Sep 2017, 9:57 pm

Just wondering if anyone else sometimes becomes obsessed with things they don't actually like. For example, I decided to investigate the movie The Human Centipede because I thought it was going to be a "creature feature" about a human crossed with a centipede, and I thought that sounded delightfully creepy. Suffice it to say, it really isn't (if you're squeamish at all, don't look it up, you don't want to know). But even after I found out what it was really about, I felt compelled to read the very-detailed summaries of all three movies on Wikipedia even though I so don't want to ever see it (thank goodness I made it through that without actually watching the thing... What has been seen cannot be unseen). Or for a while I was obsessed with the band Slayer despite not actually liking their music - I still felt compelled to listen to everything I could find by them. Anyone else ever have obsessions like this, where you don't actually enjoy the thing you're obsessing over?


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TheAP
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27 Sep 2017, 10:15 pm

This isn't quite the same, but I experience intense obsessions with people, and sometimes they're with people I don't like. I imagine them doing mean things and so on.



slw1990
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27 Sep 2017, 10:21 pm

I tend to think a lot about manipulative and sociopathic behavior. I also look up different tactics used to manipulate people and how to detect sociopaths. It's not something I enjoy reading, but I try to learn about those things to protect myself better.



Sweetleaf
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27 Sep 2017, 10:37 pm

Well at one point I was rather obsessed with the holocaust and WW2, and you'd have to be deranged to 'like' those things. But yeah I just wanted to learn as much as I could about it even though a lot of it was very disturbing and horrifying.

I guess there was one thing I liked about it, I read some stories of some very brave people in that era...it was also pretty interesting how important the French resistance was to the allies victory of WW2, yet in school they don't tell you about that part at least not in the U.S.


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lostonearth35
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27 Sep 2017, 11:46 pm

Sometimes I go on WP's News and Current Events or PPR forums even though I'll be lucky not to plunge into a deep blue depression or fly into a white-hot rage if I do. :(



IstominFan
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28 Sep 2017, 8:50 am

I read a great deal about how people with autism and other disabilities are treated in Russia and Serbia. I have a special interest in those countries and also about disability and health issues. This is kind of a sad thing to think about.

I also get anxious about the health of people and pets in my family.



AspieSingleDad
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28 Sep 2017, 9:27 am

Sweetleaf wrote:
Well at one point I was rather obsessed with the holocaust and WW2, and you'd have to be deranged to 'like' those things. But yeah I just wanted to learn as much as I could about it even though a lot of it was very disturbing and horrifying.

I guess there was one thing I liked about it, I read some stories of some very brave people in that era...it was also pretty interesting how important the French resistance was to the allies victory of WW2, yet in school they don't tell you about that part at least not in the U.S.


So I'm extremely interested in WW2 and the holocaust as well. The only reason I don't pursue it is because I'm in a demanding college program and don't have time to dedicate to my interests. I don't think it's deranged, maybe you have the same ultimate question I do, "What would make people DO these things?" As much as I've read about it and could write a detailed essay on why Germany pursued this behavior and killed all these people, I still have yet to be satisfied with all of the explanations. Maybe there just isn't a set of explanations that would satisfactorily explain such brutality.



League_Girl
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28 Sep 2017, 11:59 am

I've been obsessed with capital punishment and executions and reading about serial killers. That was something I was so ashamed of. Are these obsessions OCD if we don't like our special interests and we want to not be into them but we can't help it because of our AS?

I have also gotten interest in child abuse so I started to read books about those by those who were abused and reading about narcissists and my husband says I read weird stuff. He knows because any book I checkout on Amazon for Kindle Unlimited it shows up on his account. I just now say I am just curious and it doesn't hurt to learn bad things that happen in the world. It gives you a different perspective and helps you understand people better if they are in no contact with their parent and had cut them out of their life or why it takes so long for the abused to leave their abusers or why someone couldn't just fight back with their abuser when they got strong enough to fight back and got bigger than their abuser but yet still let it happen. Even one of my online friends thinks I read weird stuff online. I also got obsessed with violent kids and would read or watch stories about it even though it would piss me off, same as child abuse. But then I move onto something else to obsess about.


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shadowself
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28 Sep 2017, 7:04 pm

I obsess over past mistakes and faux pas, especially social ones. It starts with trying to understand how to do better, then(when I don't quite get it) it spirals into self-recrimination, blaming the other person, fantasizing how it might have been different and perfect, fantasizing how one day that person/group will recognize how they were wrong...... and so on. It would be fine if it lasted a week or a month, but I'm still obsessing over a disastrous schooling experience from more than a year and a half ago. I can't even remember much of what was said or what I said, but I managed to make all my classmates angry or nervous, and I felt like I never had a productive discussion after a while. I still lose sleep over it, and of course I can't change history. :?
When I think about this I suddenly realize that have always been obsessed with finding a way to predict what people will do and how they'll react, especially how they'll react to me. Maybe I should not care what they think or say.


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crystaltermination
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28 Sep 2017, 8:13 pm

I used to have this problem with viewing combinations of numbers in various orders. What I think it was about is that I didn't like the usual asymmetry of the digital clock face and felt inclined to wait - physically stand there - until the offending digits had changed... then I felt like I could go on with my day again, even if the new combination wasn't (as is the majority of the time!) symmetrical, either.
As a young teen, I did have a stint of fascination with extraterrestrials, before that expanded into other unexplained and mysterious things: more philosophical/religious orientated categories, I suppose. But anyway, when it was still all about the aliens - I would regularly terrify myself researching all I could about supposed sightings and abductions online and in books from my library. I gave myself nightmares with that one, and even became convinced I was being abducted at one point, so overall wasn't unhappy when I felt the 'need' for that kind of information-trawl slip away.


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Sweetleaf
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28 Sep 2017, 9:50 pm

AspieSingleDad wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
Well at one point I was rather obsessed with the holocaust and WW2, and you'd have to be deranged to 'like' those things. But yeah I just wanted to learn as much as I could about it even though a lot of it was very disturbing and horrifying.

I guess there was one thing I liked about it, I read some stories of some very brave people in that era...it was also pretty interesting how important the French resistance was to the allies victory of WW2, yet in school they don't tell you about that part at least not in the U.S.


So I'm extremely interested in WW2 and the holocaust as well. The only reason I don't pursue it is because I'm in a demanding college program and don't have time to dedicate to my interests. I don't think it's deranged, maybe you have the same ultimate question I do, "What would make people DO these things?" As much as I've read about it and could write a detailed essay on why Germany pursued this behavior and killed all these people, I still have yet to be satisfied with all of the explanations. Maybe there just isn't a set of explanations that would satisfactorily explain such brutality.


Well I don't think it is deranged to be interested about what happened, I just mean like actually getting enjoyment and happiness out of reading the horrible things that happened to people would be a bit deranged. I mean I like it as a topic to learn about but I don't enjoy that it occurred if that makes sense.


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shadowself
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29 Sep 2017, 12:05 am

I also find it intellectually fascinating to try to understand why people hurt each other over seemingly small differences. Sad too. Still have no answer that seems to make sense. I have been wanting to read up on WWII in depth to inform myself better, and keep putting it off.


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Leahcar
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29 Sep 2017, 4:44 am

For me it's malware and computer viruses. Needless to say, I'd hate to have malware on my computer, but I'm very interested in how they work, and I actually like learning more about them (but not trying them on my own system of course!).
Out of interest I sometimes look up information and about several different types of malware and how they work. I may even watch videos of them in action. From time to time, I also like to watch videos comparing different antivirus software to see which ones are better.
This obsession isn't too good for me. Sometimes I get a little paranoid about whether I have it on my system or not, even if my system has no symptoms of infection.


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naturalplastic
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29 Sep 2017, 6:09 am

Leahcar wrote:
For me it's malware and computer viruses. Needless to say, I'd hate to have malware on my computer, but I'm very interested in how they work, and I actually like learning more about them (but not trying them on my own system of course!).
Out of interest I sometimes look up information and about several different types of malware and how they work. I may even watch videos of them in action. From time to time, I also like to watch videos comparing different antivirus software to see which ones are better.
This obsession isn't too good for me. Sometimes I get a little paranoid about whether I have it on my system or not, even if my system has no symptoms of infection.


I don't even know the first thing about good ware, much less about malware. You should build on this obsession to start a career in computer security, and earn wheelbarrows full of money.



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30 Sep 2017, 9:34 am

My worst obsessions are ones I would place into the "worry" category. My bad dreams are full of things I worry about in everyday life.



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30 Sep 2017, 9:38 am

IstominFan wrote:
My worst obsessions are ones I would place into the "worry" category. My bad dreams are full of things I worry about in everyday life.

Oh, don't get me started about worries. I always find something to worry about.


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