No longer have "obsessions" anymore as an adult

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I was engrossed in so many things in my teens. You know those pathological "ASD" like obsessions that take over your life and consume all your time and money. Now at 23 I just am no longer experiencing any type of fixations anymore and haven't for years.

It's just ended. Maybe that's just part of growing up? maybe a lot of these ASD behaviors subside a little bit once you get older or aren't nearly as intense, I really have no clue.

Can anyone else relate? I have PDD-NOS by the way, rather than Asperger's (truthfully I think they're pretty much the same lol).

Not for me; they're stronger than ever in adulthood. I guess it could happen. My experience is that we don't grow out of autism so much as we simply grow up. More skills, easier to compensate, sometimes means you lose some autistic traits or even lose your diagnosis.

The only time I ever lose my special interests is when I get depression, which sucks. But being uninterested in anything is a big red flag that I need to go see a doctor before I start ignoring my schoolwork and daydreaming about jumping out of windows.

Oh for sure. You definitely don't grow out of an ASD by any means; you just get better at coping with it gradually with age. But for me, I see a lot of the traits I had as a kid and teen tapering off quite a bit.

It seems that the older I get, the more difficult it is for me to gain new special interests. It's baffling because when I was a child and teenager, I had little trouble transitioning from one interest to the next; it always felt like by the time I was done with one interest, I had found another to take its place. As of now it's been over a year since I've felt truly obsessed with anything. I've tried to "force" myself to become obsessed with things that I like on a general level, but that doesn't work because obsessions happen spontaneously. Sometimes I fall into despair because it feels like at this point I'll never have another obsession.

My NT family members don't understand why I feel like I need an obsession and why I can't just be happy with liking things on a general level (there are plenty of things I like, just nothing that I am in love with). I don't know how to respond to that.

I know what you mean. It's getting harder and harder to become passionate about something. I think it's partly because you have to worry about work and life in general as you grow up. Probably other uninteresting things that you have to deal with in life as an adult are occupying a large part of your mind. I think it was certainly a factor for me.

I don't really have them as much, either. In fact, I haven't had really strong obsessions for a few years now. I'm finding it more difficult to focus on things these days. I can't even bring myself to finish books in a reasonable time frame anymore; whereas I used to finish a book or two a week, I now have books on my Kindle that I've been chipping away at for months or even years. I'm starting to wonder if I have ADHD -- but I thought that ADHD symptoms got milder into adulthood, not worse.

I don't have specific obsessions anymore. I spent three years when I was a kid eating, drinking, breathing dinosaurs. Then video games for about a decade. These days I pick up and drop obsessions like crazy. I'll do nothing but watch a specific TV show for a week. If it ends before I'm through, I'll watch it again. Then, I'll go off and do something else shiny and new, like catalogue music. Then I'll read everything a specific author wrote. Then maybe find a new TV show. I blame my ADHD.

I think it's because we're so consumed with "adult responsibilities" that we don't have space in our brains for obsessions. I know, for me, if I let an obsession take over, I can no longer function at work and take care of myself because I can't think about anything else but that obsession. It makes me so sad and depressed sometimes. My obsessions are an integral part of me and I need them to be whole.

A new obsession I have is making my environment as beautiful as possible. My desk at work looks like something out of a magazine, but is functional and inspiring as well. I painted my room bright colors and made it into a beautiful space. I did all this to nurture my creative side, which was being ignored because of those "adult" worries. I feel much warmer and "myself" these days and am getting back to some obsessions I had put aside.

I'm learning (very slowly...) how to balance obsessions with work. It's extremely hard for me to turn-off my obsession when it's time to work. This is where I struggle. I'm determined to do it, though!

For over a year, I had no obsession, and I felt kind of crap. I had a small interest in wolves that lasted for several months. I feel the happiest when there is something I just can't stop thinking about. And I may have found one, which is the Panzer Dragoon series of video games. Since the end of last month, I can't stop thinking about it. Hopefully it will last for several years.

My special interests have changed over the years, the specifics really depending on my financial situation at the time. When I was a kid I was bound by the limitations of my living situation and permission of my mother, so I would immerse myself in reading, drawing, playing violin, listening to music, collecting pictures of pop stars, because that's mostly all I was allowed to do. My mother was VERY strict and punitive so I didn't have many options to indulge anything they didn't approve. However, as I got older I finally got to get absorbed in more mainstream obsessions that I could afford (or not!): collecting comic books, SCUBA diving, reading, collecting DVD's or books, reading, internet chatrooms, and on.

No, I can't relate at all.

I never tire of my special interests (turtles and Pokemon).

My obsessions come and go, like they have my entire life, and at 35 I most definitely experience them still. They can be anything, reading one very specific type of books, very specific topics, whatever.

My special interests have have gotten a little stronger since I've moved out, because I feel that I can really be myself. I didn't have that luxury before I moved out of my parents place 7 years ago. I felt that I had to hide my special interests before I was living on my own in fear of my father finding out that I had yet another "obsession".

I'm the same way, and also have PDD...I haven't had the feeling of being extremely fixated on one thing for a few years. While I my interests can be weird at times, they aren't really obsessive, and I can control them to the point where I am able to talk about and think about other things.

I can relate. I still have some things to work out in my life but overall my aspergers seems to be leaving wich as it turns out is fine with me,

having a clear mind is a lot better than aspergers jerking it around. I am not sentimental, especially when it comes to disorders,

Yes, though my parents say my obsession with finding an autism treatment is an obsession. Prior to that, I was obsession free for several years.