Recognizing "Obsessions"

[NapoliaDinosaur]

I'm not sure if "obsessions" is the right term, but what I'm referring to is the narrow interests those of us with Asperger's/Autism fixate on.

I've been struggling lately with people pointing out those interests. For example, one of my interests is video games; I was posting a lot on Facebook about a particular game (facts, opinions, etc.), and someone made a comment to the effect of, "Stop talking so much about that game...nobody cares about it, this is just another one of your stupid obsessions...it's just the Asperger's."

Does anyone else deal with people pointing things out like that? What do you do when it's brought to your attention? The reason I ask is because it makes me not want to have any interests at all, because I don't want anything to be "just a symptom of Asperger's." It makes me feel like my views and opinions and interests are all invalid and useless just because I have Asperger's.

 

[BrodyAl1]

Sorry that happened 9the remark on Facebook. I've had similar things happen, and I've learned to not talk exclusively about my latest obsessions. It is hard, though, as someitmes something can totally dominate my thoughts that it is all I can focus on. Never stop being interested in things, though, and never stop being who you are. If someone doesn't like it, that's their problem.

I'm not sure if "obsessions" is the right term, but what I'm referring to is the narrow interests those of us with Asperger's/Autism fixate on.

I've been struggling lately with people pointing out those interests. For example, one of my interests is video games; I was posting a lot on Facebook about a particular game (facts, opinions, etc.), and someone made a comment to the effect of, "Stop talking so much about that game...nobody cares about it, this is just another one of your stupid obsessions...it's just the Asperger's."

Does anyone else deal with people pointing things out like that? What do you do when it's brought to your attention? The reason I ask is because it makes me not want to have any interests at all, because I don't want anything to be "just a symptom of Asperger's." It makes me feel like my views and opinions and interests are all invalid and useless just because I have Asperger's.

 

[hedrick]

Go ahead and have your interests. I spend all my time with computer programming and system administration, and church. I am (at least officially) not an Aspie, but pretty much every really good techie is at least halfway there...

Good people are often close to obsessive. I understand the best research faculty works 80 hours a week. Yeah, it's probably partly Asperger's, but who cares? There are plenty of non-Aspies that are, ummm, focused. And even if it was entirely Asperger's why can't some characteristics of Asperger's be worth taking advantage of? I figure it remained in the gene pool because tribes of cavemen needed a few people around who could deal with the really difficult problems.

 

[NapoliaDinosaur]

The trouble is that in having these obsessions, I become isolated from everyone else, because no one else cares about the things my mind is focused on. It's hard, because I find joy in these things, but then I feel depressed when I realize that nobody else shares in my interests and that they just view them as part of my "problem." I'm trying really hard to view Asperger's as just a part of who I am, but I feel like everyone else just views it as something that's wrong with me.

The trouble also comes in when God becomes just another one of my "obsessions." How do I balance my relationship with God so that it's not just another obsessive interest? I don't think I even know how to balance my interests in moderation...they're always just to the extreme.

 

[Netbug009]

Does anyone else deal with people pointing things out like that?

Get better friends, for starters.