fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3037 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3037 ⌋

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Uh, no. Obsessions are unhealthy, and I say this as someone who has been diagnosed with OCD for over two decades.

You're confusing an obsession (an unhealthy fixation on something) with an intense interest, which is fine and perfectly normal. Most people have one or two things they're very interested in and knowledgeable about. The difference is that an interest is not all-consuming the way an obsession is. THAT is why obsessions are unhealthy, bad things-- because the brain assigns them a disproportionate amount of importance and causes you to lose perspective.

Obsessions are not unhealthy for everyone. Autistic obsessive interests aren't unhealthy, they're actually an extremely important part of our experience, and can be a coping mechanism to avoid the overwhelm of other parts of life.

Sorry, but yes. Coping mechanisms can be unhealthy - my way of coping with my OCD used to be avoiding all situations that could trigger my obsessions, which wasn't healthy at all.

Avoiding something isn't dealing with it. I used to think it was, but I was very wrong.

Honestly as an autistic person, I consider my "special interest" to be more of a "fixation" than an "obsession" > I used to be a bit unhealthy about them when I was a kid, but now I just treat my "special interests" as a rather fixed interest that I like learning all about.

I cannot see how having a particular interest I dedicate myself to learning all about is "unhealthy", especially if I do other things with my life in the other times.

However it's important to not whitewash the symptoms of a disorder. It bothers me when people get mad about the idea that mental disorders are anything but quirky and unique. Symptoms do cause people pain, and if you come in and tell them "nooo you can't dislike that trait or consider it bad, that's ableist" they'll be rather mad at you.

That can be ableist in it's own way because it is tantamount to telling them "this is how you should feel about this thing you have".

They fucking are.

I'm trying to understand this a bit better.

Are these obsessions something you have any degree of control over? What happens if you can't get or do the thing you're obsessed over? Are you still able to do other things without major trouble while obsessed, or does it constantly intrude on your thoughts whether you want to think about it or not?

Based on my own experiences, it's hard to imagine an obsession that isn't painful to the point where I'll use (unhealthy) coping mechanisms to try to escape from it. So I'm trying to get a comparison.

Autistic obsessions can be very unhealthy, even lethal (knew someone obesessed with the white lines in the middle of the road as a small child), so please don't generalise from your own(I assume) experience.

Come on. I'm on the autism spectrum. I have Aspergers. I know what it's like to obsess over something. But there's a difference between an unhealthy obsession, and dialing it back and learning not to constantly let it define whether you can or can't do something without it (which is what an obsession is).

The whole reason I'm in therapy is to let go of the things I obsess over, and learn how to deal with them healthily. When I get fixated on a thought, and I can't let it go, it gets in the way of me getting things done. It prevents me from arguing rationally because I /have/ to get my point across and be understood. It keeps me up at night writing or drawing or sewing when I need to sleep so I can be productive the next day, and not ramp up my anxiety to where the smallest thing might make me snap (even if I do apologize quickly, that's inconsiderate).

Learning to deal with my obsessions is learning that allowing them to control me is unhealthy. I set boundaries for when I need to be in bed, so I can be well rested and emotionally competent the next day. I make lists of things that need to be done so that I don't forget them when my hobbies get in the way. Yes, some of that is channeling the fact that I can be obsessive into useful ways, such as the lists, dietary plans, making rules for myself. But the root behavior, obsession, was still something I needed help with, and that is what people are saying when they define obsession as unhealthy.

When it's managed, I wouldn't really call it an obsession as much anymore.

[ SECRET POST #3037 ]

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No.

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Re: No.

Yes.

Re: No.

No to you too.

Don't look at it in such black and white, no in between, terms