Roninninja
Snowy Owl
Joined: Apr 16, 2012
Posts: 135
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 Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:21 pm Post subject: Anyone else obsessed with fictional characters? |
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I have recently been diagnosed with Aspergers. I have always suspected I was different. I fear social situations, even sometimes becoming uneasy at family get-togethers. After being diagnosed, I did some research and found that i shared most of the symptoms listed. I have always had a intense interest in electronics and computers, but there is one symptom I have that i'm not sure has to do with Aspergers. I have always easily become obsessed with characters. I sometimes constantly think or talk about them, and even mimic the way they talk or recite lines. I know most Aspies have a special interest they obsess over, but i have yet to find any information about this specific issue. Is this a trait of Aspergers, or maybe another disorder all together?  |
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rachel_519
Raven
Joined: Sep 26, 2011
Posts: 100
Location: Earth
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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Yes! I think the diagnostic criteria that matches this symptom is: "encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus" (from DSM IV). A lot of Aspies have obsessions with various subjects, including fictional stories and characters.
I haven't been diagnosed for certain with Asperger's, but I have several characters from one particular series that I am VERY obsessed with. If you add up the hours I spend thinking about them and talking to myself about them (while I'm taking a shower, washing dishes, walking somewhere, or just pacing back and forth in my room), it would probably be hours every day. I make up stories about them, talk to myself as if I were one of the characters talking to another character, and sometimes process my own experiences by imagining that something similar happened to my favorite character. I don't talk about them to other people because I don't like to talk to people much about anything, and I am pretty shy and self-conscious when it comes to my obsessive interests, but some Aspies are more outgoing that I am and talk about their special interests a lot.
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Your Aspie score: 120 of 200 ; Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 90 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits ; Self-DX: Extreme Introvert, probably with ADHD-Primarily Inattentive |
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CockneyRebel
Mick Avory, Sensitive brown-eyed Sweet Pea
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Age: 38
Posts: 87175
Location: In a quiet and peaceful garden, where gentle Mick Avory-like Sweet Peas grow.
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pensieve
President of Gallifrey
Joined: Nov 19, 2008
Age: 27
Posts: 7449
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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I've been obsessed with people and yes, fictional characters.
The Master is real 
Sometimes I get so into Doctor Who the characters feel more real than actual real people.
And Daniel Jackson is totally real. I automatically mimic his accent. It is now a variation of my own.
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My autism blog - http://latedx.wordpress.com
My completely random though usually about Doctor Who blog - http://alonsy.tumblr.com/ |
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IdahoRose
Imaginary Friend
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Joined: Feb 25, 2007
Age: 22
Posts: 18651
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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I've been officially diagnosed with AS, and every one of my special interests has involved obsessing over fictional characters. The characters I focus on have changed over the years as I've discovered different movies and TV shows, but their role in my life and the way I indulge in my obsession with them has remained the same.
I consider my favorite characters to be my imaginary friends and refer to them as such. Rather than watching entire movies or TV series, I just like watching the parts of the movies or the TV episodes that heavily feature my imaginary friends. I talk to my imaginary friends whenever I'm alone, particularly at night. I even make them respond to me by mimicking their voices. I become so emotionally involved with my favorite characters that they feel very real to me. I treat them and talk about them as though they were real people.
I guess you could say that my imaginary friends are my muses, since they serve as my primary source of artistic inspiration. Every time I engage in physical activities such as pacing, running or swimming, my imagination runs wild and I picture my imaginary friends in different scenarios and it inspires me to create artwork.
My favorite scenarios to imagine are romantic in nature, reflecting my inner nature as a "hopeless romantic". I imagine my favorite characters falling in love with each other. I especially like to pair up characters from different movies or TV shows (known in fan communities as "crossover pairings"). It doesn't matter if the pairings I come up with are same-sex or opposite-sex - if I think two imaginary friends belong together, then they will be together. I even like to take it a step further and make up children for my favorite pairings, though I don't interact with them or consider them to be imaginary friends. If anything, they are "fledgling imaginary friends". |
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Roninninja
Snowy Owl
Joined: Apr 16, 2012
Posts: 135
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Wow! I'm so relieved that this trait is corollary with AS! I was worried that I might have something else in addition to Aspergers. I have always been obsessed with characters like Batman or other superheroes. I sometimes wish I could create awesome gadgets and fight crime like a superhero! I sometimes find the characters more relatable or even more interesting than normal people. I even try to think of how my favorite character might act in situations that i face and mimic their speech. I have been told by other people I talk about the characters like I know them personally. I only have one other person I consider a friend, who is also an Aspie, I can theorize that a lot of these traits may stem from being on my own a lot. I'm not outgoing at all unless someone mentions computers or one of my other interests. |
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E27
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jun 03, 2011
Posts: 50
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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| I am normally at least a bit obsessed with at least one fictional character. And I watch whatever show or movie they are in repeatedly and remember lines and talk about them and say their lines. |
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Bun
Bunnymen
Joined: Jan 09, 2012
Posts: 3250
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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Mimicing their lines sounds a bit like echolalia to me, which IS an autistic trait. I still do it sometimes.  |
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kBillingsley
Sea Gull
Joined: Dec 23, 2010
Age: 19
Posts: 224
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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| The Nihilanth from Half-life. |
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Roninninja
Snowy Owl
Joined: Apr 16, 2012
Posts: 135
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Bun wrote: | | Mimicing their lines sounds a bit like echolalia to me, which IS an autistic trait. I still do it sometimes. |
Yeah, it could very well be. I've started to become a little more aware of it's obscurity (after being told numerous times) and have been trying to control myself a little more. |
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falonsayswoah
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Mar 27, 2012
Age: 19
Posts: 59
Location: Oregon, USA
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, and the actors/actresses that play them if they're from a TV show. For the past 10 months it has been Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry, and their ship (Faberry), from Glee. I don't even particularly like the show, but I'm obsessed with those characters.
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Diagnosis: Major Depressive Affective Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Mild PTSD, Agoraphobia with Panic Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder of childhood with hyperactivity (more inattentive, though), Mild OCD, Social Phobia, Tourette's Syndrome |
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UnLoser
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 29, 2012
Posts: 623
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Roninninja wrote: | | I sometimes find the characters more relatable or even more interesting than normal people. |
I agree. 
Sometimes I have gotten very attached to fictional characters... they're my stand-in for real people. |
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League_Girl
Proud mamma
Joined: Feb 05, 2010
Posts: 13486
Location: My house
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| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:00 am Post subject: |
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| Yep yep, it is also embarrassing for me too so i never talk about it and never had online. It was mentioned in my medical papers too when I was being evaluated for autism. I was fixated on a movie character back then. I still get obsessed with characters and I can't stop thinking about them. But when I get obsessed with a character, I want to see the actor/actress in other movies. |
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biribiri20
Snowy Owl
Joined: Dec 23, 2011
Age: 22
Posts: 131
Location: New York
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| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:48 am Post subject: |
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Yes, the character in my avatar. Over a year later and I am still just as obsessed with her as the first day I realized how awesome she was. I know pretty much everything about her, I have a figure of her and a clock depicting her picture, in addition to a shirt with her on it and another shirt from the series she's from. It's strange because I don't love her in a romantic way, but I just can't get over how cool she is as a person. I also have every Japanese volume of her self-titled manga, which is a spin off of the series she originated from and I've re-watched the anime itself countless times. Okay yes, a lot of that was a bit embarrassing to reveal, but I don't mind sharing it with you guys.
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I like making friends! Even if I'm not the best at it ^^;
Diagnosis: ADHD-PI, suspected AS
Your Aspie Score: 142 of 200, Your NT Score: 74 of 200, You are very likely an Aspie
AQ: 38/EQ: 16/SQ: 52
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American
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jan 18, 2012
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:56 am Post subject: |
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I definitely do this. I repeat Seinfeld lines constantly. Recently, I have been imitating Inspector Clouseau. "Do you have a reum?" lol. "There is something the matter with your pheun." And "Don't try to be fuhnay with me, it is your minkey, therefore it is your muhnay!" When I'm with people for a long time on end, they will hear my blurt out these things. They get tired of it and hate me for it. They say it was funny the first time but it gets old. I'm one to keep saying things long after they have been deemed "no longer funny" by others.
I have a feeling that I will discover that Asperger's will explain many of my behaviors that I don't currently connect with the fact that I have Asperger's. |
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