Do yo ever...?

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Do you ever have a special interest that you want to move on from?

Do you ever have special interests which are affected by your mood/ day of the week?

How do you deal with the 'space' in between interests?

Were you taught how to control your interests at a better level?

If last one was yes, did it work or make you feel the same or worse?

These are all part of a session I'm about to have with a psychologist tomorrow and I'd love to get some ideas of these answers. I'm kind of having a meltdown with my special interests- felt so bad I'm amazed I've lasted out the week since I last saw my psycgologist. My mum is tryin hard to keep me off anti-depressants but I don't really see why. Anyway that's not the point the point is the questions. So answer away...

1) Yes, After a while I sometimes burn out on an interest. Either because I think I've learned all I can, there isn't any one to share it with, it is starting to cost too much, etc.

2) Yep, If I'm tired some of my interests fall by the way side because they take too much mental energy.

3) This one is tough, it can actually bring on a feeling of depression, of being lost, not having a sense of direction to move in...it's horrible

4) No, kind of had to figure that out on my own, sometimes I can and sometimes (especially if it is a new interest) it's like a dam burst...must know and have everything!!

Do you ever have a special interest that you want to move on from?

Yes. I wish I could move on from my special interest in astronomy and being an astronaut because it's something I will never be able to achieve as I am no where near good enough at math. I get extremely depressed every time I remember that I will never be able to go into space because it has been my number one dream since I was around 7 years old. I'm pursuing my second interest as a career though (working with birds), so I guess it's not too bad. But if I could, I would drop that for a chance to go to space in a heart beat.

Do you ever have special interests which are affected by your mood/ day of the week?

Not really.

How do you deal with the 'space' in between interests?

My top two interests haven't changed since I was around 7 or 8 years old (I'm 21 now). Other "minor" interests have definitely changed. When I'm between other interests, I usually either focus on my top two or browse Tumblr...Tumblr seems to lessen the amount of time between interests as it's easy to find new ones.

Were you taught how to control your interests at a better level?

Depends on which interest. I am fortunate enough to have a parent who also likes space and so he would often do things with me that involved that interest -star gazing, going to planetariums etc. However, with birds, I had to learn to control that myself since no one else is really interested in them...

If last one was yes, did it work or make you feel the same or worse?

It made me feel worse because I couldn't be open about it like I wanted to.

For interests I want to leave behind, I used to be very interested in modifying my car. I have a Nissan 240sx. I'm tired of working on it and putting money into it. I just want a reliable car (preferably a van).

My interests aren't usually affected by my mood or day of week.

When between interests, I feel kinda lost. I don't like those times because I don't have any set goals. I'm currently working on modifying one of my Rc rock crawlers. I have all of the parts I want to get for it listed out and how I want to set it up. It feels good to be working towards the goal I have set for it.

I'm still bad about getting caught up in my interests and spending more time and money than I should.

Yes I kind of lost interest in baseball. My interest aren't really affected by mood or day of the week. I find something else to be interested in during that time or end up bored. I sometimes go back to interests after a long break.

I kind of constantly battle with my special interests because I fear suddenly and miraculously, losing interest in the area that I'd worked so hard to master (whether it be information-wise or technique). A few have certainly faded and whenever I'm reminded of them, I feel as though I've betrayed myself by letting something I obsessed over for so long, slip away.

Definitely. If I'm feeling frustrated, picking up the guitar and trying to practice pushes me off the deep end. Guitar and the repetitions of practicing it seem to have the exact opposite effect if I'm scared/worried rather than frustrated. I think whenever I'm irritated, I have a seriously hard time falling back into the zone of hyper-focus required by the interests.

Is there ever really space between interests? I think, even if I'm not actively participating in the interest, I'm certainly thinking about it at least a few times every so many minutes and therefore, I find it difficult to ever truly escape them. Even something as absorbing as watching a fantastic movie usually leads to a few scenes where I think about and comment on the weather (another obsession).

Nah, I wasn't taught how to control my interests. If anything, they've grown more and more problematic over the years as I've added more than I've lost. I also don't particularly like spending time with other people who share passion for the same things because I can't help but devolve into some sub-homonid who's life's dream is to prove their superior knowledge and abilities. I can usually stay these reactions if It's online interaction, but say I go to some weather convention in person...it's just too much.

This is the first time I've seen another person who feels negative like I do although there is a lot more negative in my thoughts, like loads which is what I am trying to get sorted out but it's definatly not easy to deal with. It's comforting to know that I'm not alone in haveing things that don't feel great. I also have the fear of moving on, I try and hold on to ones that are fading and then after a while I give up on them even though its as if they don't want to leave me alone. I get paranoid about doing things or buying things related because it could go in a second and I spend every second I can making myself do things that are related.

Hmm... I don't have a special interest to move from... that is the point of having an interest.... right? otherwise I have had interests that have come and gone on its own.

Well.. My Gaming interests can calm my mood somewhat, games that are not too umm... hardcore does soothe bad feelings.

Other than my Gaming and Computing interests, in between I often get obsessed with other things currently mental disorders, Furry, certain foods, asexuality and Chess Strategy

I was fortunate enough to take my computing interests and got encouraged into further studding it into a degree... which to some point... found oddly simplistic.

Taking my computing to a degree made me feel highly self-worthy, highly self confident and doing so, have a clearer mind.

Do you ever have a special interest that you want to move on from?

Yes - I really want to move on from my special interest in Johnny Depp movies, and to a lesser extent my My Little Pony interest too. But in this post I'm only going to focus on my Johnny Depp obsession because it is the one that's giving me the most difficulty. My interest in it has faded a lot, to the point that I don't even feel like watching the movies, talking about them or researching them anymore like I did back in 2010 (when the obsession first started), but I can't seem to completely let it go.

Whenever I try to cut it out of my life completely, I have meltdowns because I "miss" my favorite Johnny Depp characters, even though I rarely think about them anymore as it is. The characters I once loved but now wish I was rid of keep creeping back into both my daydreams and my actual sleeping dreams, as though they were haunting me. The most disturbing (and possibly the most symbolic) dream happened a few nights ago, when I dreamed that I murdered the Mad Hatter (who happens to be my favorite Johnny Depp character) and buried him in a shallow grave, and he and Alice later came out of the TV and took revenge on me.

Oh, and another thing that makes it hard for me to move on is that my family and friends won't stop mentioning Johnny Depp movies to me, since those movies have been my whole world for the past 2 years. They know about my struggles yet keep bringing it up anyway, and it hurts because I try so hard to forget about those movies and focus on other things, and whenever they mention Johnny Depp movies or anything related to them, the characters have a tendency to show up in my daydreams and ruin my progress.

Do you ever have special interests which are affected by your mood/ day of the week?

Once again, my interest in Johnny Depp's movies... Some days I feel like I love them almost as much as I used to and I feel like I'm on top of the world, which seems to coincide with a happy mood in general. Those days are becoming less and less frequent. Most days, though, I wish my interest was gone and I could become obsessed with something else, and pining for a new obsession seems to coincide with a melancholy, cynical or even desperate mood.

How do you deal with the 'space' in between interests?

Right now I consider myself "in between interests", since even though I haven't completely let go of my interests, they no longer bring me joy and I don't engage in them anymore. I used to complain to friends and family about it, but my friends are completely baffled by it and my family is sick of me talking about it, so I have been forced to find my own ways of coping. I browse the Internet, watch TV/movies and read, which are things I do anyway, but now I do them to escape my special interest problems instead of for leisure. If I don't keep my mind occupied with mindless entertainment, then I will drive myself half-crazed with despair over the whole Johnny Depp thing.

Were you taught how to control your interests at a better level?

No, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing at this point.

If going into space is that important to you, then why don't you learn how to get better at math? Go to your schools tutoring room, read books on learning, etc. I guarantee you that you can learn how to do math if you find a method that works for you.

Time for a quick story:

Joe just joined a basketball team. All he ever wanted to do, was to play basketball. Then he sees how much better everyone else on the team is. Compared to them, Joe sucks! So 2 weeks go by, with him getting more and more discouraged every day. Finally, he goes up to the coach and says "I'm done. Everyone is so much better than me and I suck!". The coach looks at him and says "There is no such thing as bad basketball player. Only those who are not confident in their ability to learn."

Go out there and get into space!