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How to expand my interests?

NAS77172

Hi

I have autism and anxiety, so trying new things is very difficult for me. Whenever somebody recommends something to me that is something I'm not really used to (like a movie in a genre I've never watched) I often end up having it on a list somewhere and never watching it because I'm nervous I won't like it or it'll be difficult to get a hang of (like a video game with different mechanics than I'm used to.) I want to try out some more things, like certain games and movies, and I already have some picked out that I want to try. But I always get nervous because many of them are things I've never tried anything similar to. Also, my friends/family like most of those things too and I'm afraid that they'll make fun of me if I don't know every single thing about it but call myself a fan or something. They're not the type of people to do that, they'll probably be excited I like something they like, but for some reason I get really nervous about it.

The only thing I've noticed that helps so far is when it has something I already really like in it. Like I started watching Shameless because it takes place in Chicago and I'm less nervous about trying to watch Trailer Park Boys because my boyfriend sent me a clip from it with a raccoon. But sometimes that doesn't work.

  • Do you actually want to expand your interests or do you feel pressure from other people to do so? It’s a good idea to use existing interests to build upon new ones as you will already have a safe and predictable topic. I don’t like trying new things, for example I prefer to watch films that I have seen multiple times as they are familiar. If I watch new films I will constantly ask questions as the unpredictability makes me anxious.