10 ways to tell your interest has turned into a new Hyper-Fixation/obsession

Hello everyone,

You may or may not know this, but I have Autism and ADHD. This means-along with other things-I get hyper fixated-or “obsessed”-with things. Recently I got a small interest in K-pop. This has now turned into a mild obsession. So, what I thought is I would share the top ten ways to find out if your interest has turned into a hyper-fixation.

I use obsession and Hyper-fixation interchangeably during this list.

10 WAYS TO TELL YOUR INTEREST HAS TURNED INTO A NEW HYPER-FIXATION/OBSESSION

1. You begin thinking about it. A lot. Most of your thoughts are consumed by this interest. You normally wish you were doing something to do with the interest and feel sad when you aren’t.

2. It becomes hard to concentrate on much else other than your interest.

3. This one might not apply to most people, but I will devote notebooks to my obsessions. So, if you have devoted a whole notebook to this interest then I have to say this is looking a lot like an obsession. Especially if you happen to spend 2-3 hours painting a custom cover for that notebook. I am not even joking at this point; I have genuinely done that. And you almost always never fill up the notebook.

4. You talk about the interest a lot. By a lot I mean that when conversation comes up it normally all you can think of talking about. Most people you talk to will hear about this new interest of yours. You don’t engage in much conversation unless it is about your interest.

5. You try to get other people interested in it. I have to say congratulations if it works because it never works very well for me.

6. Whenever you have free time, you are participating in this interest. Even if you don’t have free time. Even if you're supposed to be doing something much more important. You don’t really care. You just want to keep doing the interest. You ignore the voice screaming in your head telling you to do more important things.

7. You will sit for hours (or stand depending on the interest) and do the interest. You will ignore bodily function things like using the bathroom, eating and sleeping.

8. You lose track of time when you are participating in this interest. Everything disappears and you are happy. Until you look at the clock and realize you have been doing it for many, MANY hours and you are going to pee your pants, pass out from hunger as well as exhaustion.

9. You feel like slapping anyone who interrupts your time doing the interest. And if you're not much of an aggressive person you at least feel like asking the person to leave. You may ignore anyone who visits, and you definitely don’t answer the phone. Who cares about people when your interest exists, right?

10. Sadly, eventually you will lose interest in this interest. The notebook will visit the graveyard of notebooks that were started in the height of an obsession. You will definitely lose interest when you get any supplies needed for your new interest. Your broke but at least you have supplies for an interest you're not hyper-fixated on anymore.

If you managed to tick of at least five things on that list, I have to say that your “new interest” might actually be a new “hyper-fixation”. And 10 will always happen. Sometimes you can keep the interest long enough to use some of the supplies you bought.

I have definitely got an obsession of K-pop at the moment. I can tick off almost all of these things. I watch the dance videos, have it playing 24/7 in my headphones, learning the dances, learning Korean, etc. Etc. One day I will lose interest in it, but I hope I at least like it long enough to fill up my notebook. And I am not kidding I did paint a custom cover for it. It looks awful but I spent way too much time on it. More time than I really should of.

I do have to say on very rare occasions your interest could get upgraded into a “special interest”. Something you will always hyper-fixate on when given the chance, but it calms down a little and you normally can do some important things before getting sucked up into the interest.

Also, if you don’t have ADHD or Autism, but you do have an “obsession/Hyper-fixation” by no means does that mean you have ADHD or Autism. However, if you do think you do (based on more than my blog post) probably talk to your psychiatrist or doctor.

Have a day!

Proffessor Nutkins

One does most definitely does have an obsession.