Does Anyone Not Notice When An Obsession is Coming On?

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If I'm reading something, I get a tingly sensation in my head and can absorb _all_ of it without fail when I know an obsession's coming on.
I got this a lot when I was younger reading about ants and some other creatures. Then I got it about Tamagotchis(you'd be surprise how much information there is on a 10 pound product...). Then I got it about different types of magnets. Now I get it about computer models.
Has anyone had to take a few hours/days/weeks/months/years to notice they're obsessed with them?
I'm just wondering.
EMZ=]

I can only say that I clearly DO notice when an obsession is comming on.

Its one of the most wonderful experiences you can ever get. Its a MAGIC moment, when you observe or experience something that you so clearly feel in that exact moment "YES! this will be my next obsession, WOW". During all years I wasnt able to litteraly think this sentense, it was just a big feeling. Last year on my latest obsession I could think it for the first time, and then I clearly knew what was going on....

Its such a powerfeeling that I dont know what to do with myself other than just emediately start to absorb it lol....

I can usually tell when an obsession is coming on when the certain subject is mentioned or featured in the general media my heart beats faster and I'm really interested in what they're saying and talk loads about it after. Like if there is a short reference to my new obsession on a youtube video I keep watching those few moments a million times and still feel the same excitement and amusement from it as I did the first time. Two years ago and some of last year I had an obsession with stereotypes in pop culture (emos vs chavs, skaters you know that sort of thing) and I saw a clip of the TV programme "mock the week" on the internet and this man made a joke about emos and chavs and I watched that same snipet of ages and laughed my head off.

And another way I know an obsession is coming is when that subject is mentioned in a group conversation and I suddenly become the most confident and active person in the conversation.

Sometimes. The really strong ones, I can tell. Like, when suddenly I feel like I want to collect every scrap of information and collect it all in a database or a binder or organize it into flowcharts... yeah, that's when I know a really strong obsession has got a hold of me. Those, you just have to hold on, until two weeks later you're sleep-deprived and your brain's full of knowledge and you're thinking to yourself, "Wow, what a ride!"

Usually, though, it starts as a casual interest, intensifies into a strong hobby, and sticks around for years. That just feels like a normal part of life, to me, because I always have one or more interests of that nature.

I don't notice until I am deep into it. I usually notice as a result of my inability to function in other aspects of my life and the inability to put anything other than a superficial focus towards anything or anybody else.

After I notice that an obsession has taken over my life, I can struggle for weeks trying to break away from it.

I can easily see when an obsession is coming on. SpongeBob, for example - I can't resist watching it, and I think about it all the time. Not to mention my literally SpongeBob-filled bedroom.

It's varied for me. Sometimes when I think I know I'm really going to get into something, it only lasts one day. Flamingos are one that actually recently took me by surprise. I knew I was going to like them and they'd be my favorite animal of the year (2007 was kangaroos, 2008 was skunks, etc.), but I didn't think they'd fall into my obsession category. Somehow they managed to though!

So now my obsessions include "Happy Tree Friends", pageants, and flamingos, all of which have absolutely nothing to do with each other! LOL

I can always tell when a new special interest is getting stronger, but I can never predict HOW strong the special interest will end up being. I have lots of mild special interests, ones that I get really excited about but don't need to ramble about. I only have a select few true special interests, the ones that define AS, where I ramble on and on about them. I can always tell when a new special interest is starting up because it's all that I will think about and I'll want to talk about it more and do more things related to it.

However, I never know how long that type of intensity will stay. It's usually only for a few days to a week or two, and then, it just becomes a mild special interest. But the true special interests often hit their intensity with surprise, because I'm always shocked when I realize how it went from mild to obsession in a short amount of time. A Beautiful Mind was like that for me. I became interested in it around October of 2005, and by Christmas of that year, it was an intense special interest. It stayed at that high intensity until around the summer of 2007. Now, it's still one of my strongest special interests, but it's not as strong as some others.

One thing I have noticed about my special interests is that, with the exception of my current most intense special interest (3 1/2 years and still going strong), the rambling stage of my most intense special interests lasts about 1 1/2 to 2 years. A Beautiful Mind falls in this category, too.
-OddDuckNash99-