How much do your obsessions take over life?

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Just wondering to what extent your obsessions interfere with daily life? When I'm focussed on a special interest it's virtually all I think about. I struggle to eat, clean the house, attend to what needs attending to, and even wash sometimes as all my time is taken up with my obsession. When I was younger I used to think about my obsession 24/7 and nothing else, but now I have a child so obviously I need to attend to him. Even so my obsession still takes over most of my thinking and living. It's probably not healthy but I don't feel alive without a special interest. Is this common for all of you or is this quite extreme?

Mine isn't that extreme because they aren't going anywhere if I leave them.

They could get that intense if I allow them to. But they are just things to do when I'm bored. Although if you take Twitter away from me I may cry.

I am still pretty obsessive but not as much as I use to be. My special interests still consume a lot of my time though.

I'm affraid of my obsession. I could make a living from it but I don't even wanna do that just because I'd get too obsessed with work. At the moment I'm fighting the AS. Trying to have more of a balanced life. Not sure if it's gonna work

When I am into an obsession (they can last from weeks to months to years) it tends to consume me. I try really hard to think about what is going on right in front of me, but it is really difficult. If I am into something that is in the weeks to a few months range, I tend to forget to eat, forget to wash, let the house go... I also have a toddler. I have to make sure to tend to her, but then I am usually right back to what I was doing.

How can I tell there is an "end" to an obsession in sight? Well... it is typically something with a limited about of information. At some point I will read everything there is about the topic and then the flow of information slows way down and the obsession is demoted to a "serious interest".

Believe that is quite normal. Or maybe I am just extreme. Have never been able to take properly care of household, meals, finances because am always obsessing about something that takes up all my time (and sometimes all my money as well). Even had to stay home from work because couldn't focus on what I was doing.

I love to daydream about them all the time, but I don't allow them to stop my life completely!

They get their time before and after work.

The obsession is Aspergers to my mind, in so far as it the most difficult thing to deal with it. I so often cannot read, be it a web page or a novel, I just sit there and think the same endless thoughts over and over again. I can make the effort to wash and get up and eat, but beyond that it often is just sitting around with the same old thoughts. When I can find something strong enough to distract myself, that I find to be bliss.

I've been reading 'The Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome' by Tony Attwood, and in it he states that the more stressed, upset, anxious, depressed, ect.. that a person with AS may be the more they dive into their special interest. This is true for me. The more I stressed I feel about some negative situation/person/thought the more I'm on this computer swallowing hours of my day, only it feels like 1 or 2 hours. I get more excited about reading, and researching than anything else.

Of course, I have children, and I'm a stay at home mom, so i do have to tend to the kids, and the house. I do get things done, but I know that my house could be cleaner, my kids could have more of my attention, as well as my husband, who sadly seems to always be the last on my list. It's very hard for me to remember that he has to come before my special interests, or my marriage will dissolve. Balancing my life is a constant feeling of defeat for me. I always feel like I don't do enough 'regular' stuff for my family, because I'm so engrossed with my special interests, even though I've been reassured by others that I do.

This is exactly how I feel. Whenever I´ve had a special interest end suddenly, I´ve gone through a horrible withdrawal or depression. I definitely feel like my special interests are what makes life worth living. I have gone through periods of being totally obsessed, and periods where it lightens up slightly, so they tend to wax and wane. My work was my special interest for years, and I was quite a workaholic; it got to the unhealthy level at many periods in my life, but now I recognize this pattern and try to prevent it. Having recently discovered AS, that is now my current obsession...my biggest problem these days is that I am usually sleep deprived because I can´t get off the internet, or can´t put down that book...hours go by, and I don´t realize it.

I do remember to eat though. I guess I just love eating too much to forget that. Wish I had a personal cook, though.

Depends on the obsession. My main ones take up a lot of time indeed.

At the moment I spend all my time memorising whatever numbers I can - primes, pi, times tables... Everything.

They don't take over my life I just really enjoy them and daydream about them all the time

I've made a career out of my special interest. I surround myself with it 24-7 and I feel like my life would be empty and pointless without it. I started having this obsession when I was 6 years old and I never outgrew it, much to the chagrin of my family. My family definitely thinks I am too obsessed with it and have tried to force me to quit at various times, to no avail.

What is said special interest?

Horses in general. Thoroughbred horse racing specifically.