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Obsessions

lostmyway

I would appreciate some feedback from members about a problem I have about sometimes becoming very obsessed about something I don't seem to understand very well. Instead of just leaving it for the time being, I will often become upset about not being able to immediately work it out and feel compelled to keep examining it, even though this becomes harder due to the anger and stress engendered. It's as if I have to complete something or other that has sparked my attention otherwise I feel a terrible sense of failure.

I also tend to be a perfectionist about certain things, feeling unhappy if something is not done to my satisfaction.

I was wondering if this kind of behaviour relates to people on the AS or simply just an idiosyncratic part of my personality. Or, maybe, I just don't get out enough.

Any comments appreciated.

  • Lost0ne87 said:

    I have steel book blu rays and they scratch very easy and it's easy just leave them wrapped up and leave them in a plastic box but I avoid buying them now. I also had a nice scratch in my lovely hi fi amp/cd player and ended up buying a new part for it. It’s bad; I think it really helps to have not too many material things. I had the same thing with my drawings; it took me years to finish one drawing and tend not to show people just in case they were rough with it.

     

    I used enamel spray paint and it made me have a break down (contamination issue) it was about 6 years ago and I still avoid all contact with enamel till this day.

    I think this must have something to do with sensory overload. Why is it a regular person would be able to dismiss it from their mind and and forget about it, while we can't stop worrying about it? Genes, I guess.

  • Martian Tom said:

    Yes, I get these obsessions, too.  One of mine is to start something, like a writing project, which then comes to nothing.  So I'll restart it, and again it'll come to nothing.  I have one project that I've restarted time and again over the last ten years... and each time it's come to the same end.

    There's a saying that the definition of insanity is trying to do the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result each time.  If that's the case, then I'm insane.

    Perfectionism.  Tell me about it.  It's one of the reasons I don't like working in a team.  I want to do things my way, even if it's not the best way.  I need to be in control.  And if I make a mistake... then I have to start again.  I had a mark on one of my bathroom floor tiles.  Only a small mark - but I knew it was there, and it bugged me.  So I took the tile up and replaced with another tile from under the cooker in my kitchen, which has the same tiles.  Trouble is, the shade was slightly different.  So that had to be changed, too.  In the end, I spent hours taking up and shifting tiles, until I was satisfied.  And all it was was a tiny mark.

    But I knew it was there!

    It's one of the reasons I no longer have a car.  If it rains, and it gets dirty - I have to clean it straight away.  If it gets a tiny scratch or paint chip, it keeps me awake at night.

    Yep, that's me.

  • I have steel book blu rays and they scratch very easy and it's easy just leave them wrapped up and leave them in a plastic box but I avoid buying them now. I also had a nice scratch in my lovely hi fi amp/cd player and ended up buying a new part for it. It’s bad; I think it really helps to have not too many material things. I had the same thing with my drawings; it took me years to finish one drawing and tend not to show people just in case they were rough with it.

     

    I used enamel spray paint and it made me have a break down (contamination issue) it was about 6 years ago and I still avoid all contact with enamel till this day.

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    I sometimes experience the same sort of thing, for example, trying to solve some advanced mathematical concept or domain. 

    There are a lot of traits people on the spectrum have which are common among members to various degrees, but these traits are not part of any official diagnostic criteria.

    There are many symptoms reported by people on the spectrum which do not appear in the DSM cluster of symptoms for autism.

    People with autism also may have other conditions alongside autism. 

    So it's very interesting, we are a rainbow nation, multi-coloured works of abstract art.