I have kind of wanted to ask this question for a while now, so here we go.

I have been diagnosed with autism, ADHD, anxiety, and OCD. Well, every one of these can cause someone to develop a hyperfixation, meaning that they are super super into certain topic(s) that can almost entirely consume their daily lives. My main hyperfixation is definitely anything with electricity, and has been for most of my life, it is what I am thinking about probably at least 10 hours of every day (as of now). On of my more minor ones is scientific glassblowing, and both of these hyperfixations come together very nicely in the form of lighting. I have other hyperfixations as well, but they are irrelevant.

No offense to everyone else, but you are probably at least a tiny bit crazy if you are on this platform, whether it is a diagnosable condition or not. I just would like to see if anyone else can relate, I know this can be a sensitive topic for some people, obviously if you don't feel comfortable talking about it you don't have to say anything.

I would also like to say thank you to the majority of the users on this platform that make others feel included no matter what, you make the world go around.

Thanks!

You are not alone, Multisubject.  I do have mild autism and able to manage it

Probably 99% of members on here, and those who say they aren't are most likely in denial.

@rjluna2
Thanks! I think I manage pretty well

@Al_M
That is sort of what I was alluding to, but I didn't want to say it outright lol

I'm not formally diagnosed with anything, but I'm likely at least a little bit autistic. Also ADHD for sure. I have the same "can't focus for sh*t" vs. "hyperfocused to death" stages that people with ADHD do. Something just clicks, and my brain starts firing on all eight cylinders.

Also mild OCD is probable, I've always had an obsession of adding values to numbers to get an even value, ie, 10,000. I remember i would stare out the car window and do that with every mailbox number I would pass. Now, as a driver, I do it with license plate numbers when stopped at a red light or in standstill traffic. Also, I used to have an odd obsession where if I tapped two fingers together, I would have to tap every finger twice– up from the pink to the thumb and down again. Weird, I know. 

Finally... if that wasn't enough, i learned to talk very late. But once I learned, you couldn't shut me up if you tried. And social settings have always been difficult (i couldn't read the room in my younger years), though now that I've spent years working on that I've vastly improved. Weirdly enough, I've always loved public speaking... 

@Maxim
I could write a book with all of the weird obsessions I have had, one notable one from when I was very young is if I spun around (like going up multiple flights of stairs), I would count how many times I spun and then when I was done I would spin the opposite way, as if I was unraveling an imaginary string that had wrapped around me.

I also learned to talk very late. I think I have improved sort of decently, but I am definitely very different than others in a crowd if you pay attention (this of course led to issues in school). Interesting that you like public speaking, public speaking is a total disaster for me, unless it is something I am interested in (so pretty much never). That is a skill many people would love to have.

@Multisubject - I feel like your spinning thing is very similar to my finger tapping thing... I had a similar perception- as if I am unraveling or "undoing" what I did before. For me though, it was more of a "cancelation" of the previous action to stay in "balance". Lol.

My parents chose to never get me diagnosed, which honestly I really appreciate. I've never taken Adderall, and never plan on taking it in my lifetime. I've learned to accept and appreciate myself for who I am, and work with / accept my flaws. I feel like drugs take away your personality and who you truly are, but I do get their purpose, especially in more serious cases.

@Maxim That sounds like a great way to be!

@Maxim
That is an excellent description! Another common one was if I would hit my hand on something, I would hit the other hand, which would usually be overcompensating, so I would lightly hit the original hand again, and then I am just sitting there lightly going back and forth tapping both of my hands on something before realizing "ok, what the actual frick an I doing" lol. Everything has to be equal!

I am medicated, not with Adderall but with something milder. Everyone has their own reasons for doing so or not doing so, but I am glad you have enough confidence to go out into the world "raw"!

@Multisubject — Yeah, it's weird.

I think my biggest flaw lies in speaking too much when the situation does not warrant it. Ie, I can be seen as somewhat "crazy" and "blabbery" but it's simply a symptom of having a brain that operates faster than my mouth can move. As such, I have a tendency to not complete a thought before moving on to the next, especially when I am passionate about a topic. And to backtrack is like to ask me to retrieve a tape that's been thrown to the bottom of a river... not easy. So people can perceive me as "rushed" and "hyperactive", which caused me pretty significant troubles in school (especially public elementary and middle schools), but said issues have waned, but not entirely disappeared as a now-senior in high school. Some people have middle school me instilled in their minds, and refuse to see the fact that I've grown/matured as a person. And some outright hate me, and make it very clear. There is a group of popular, smart guys who essentially exclude me from everything. Ie, I am in AP Calc-BC, but not in the group chat the rest of the class is in, because the guys are popular and have "social jurisdiction" over a large number of people. Actually, one of the people who hates me most is Class President, and he makes his opinions of me very clear.

As such, I've faced what I can only describe as the "social trampling" effect. Where one popular (usually smart) person treats me with derision, and the rest of the group "tramples" me in the coming stampede. Whether they're afraid of opposing these people, or simply have a chance to make their displeasure with me known, it hurts. Lyrics in a ton of Linkin Park and Eminem songs hit harder than they should because most of these people want to see me give up, to see me fail, to watch my downfall and laugh. I've made some friends over the years (mainly in my junior and senior years) who honestly were averse to my presence before, but the number remains relatively low for the above-stated reasons.

But it's whatever. I've already been accepted to Purdue for Materials Engineering, as well as Pitt w/ 10K merit/yr in-state, with many more decisions coming within the next two months. So come June, I won't have to see anyone from my graduating class ever again, unless I choose to reach out.

@Maxim
I definitely find myself oversharing things with people who I really don't know enough to share those things with lol.

a brain that operates faster than my mouth can move

Absolutely! It can be hard to actually convey the information you want to convey because your brain has already moved on. Me and my brother have over the years made abridged versions of many words (inside words?) so we can talk faster to each other, which is nice but that only partially solves the problem for one person. Backtracking in conversations is definitely difficult, for me people just need to be very specific as to what they are asking about.

That must really suck that you are being excluded like that, but I guess you can look forward to getting a fresh start soon. My situation was very different, in a way that could be considered good or bad. In middle school, I was a pretty social person (as well as everyone else), so I knew a decent amount of people. Inevitably, some of these people were not a fan of me, and that caused some problems. My approach was to figuratively befriend the school administration, in the fact that if anyone did anything to me at all I would just report it, and they would usually get some sort of justice. This was unsurprisingly unpopular. So I stopped being social really, and I was just left with a few people who knew me well. At the beginning of high school, that was okay, but by sophomore year we drifted apart, and I never made up for it. And this was about the time I was figuring some other SuperDuperFunAndInteresting things out about myself (very mentally taxing), so friends just never really happened after that. This meant there was nobody who knew me well enough to criticize me (except my brother of course), which I guess could be a good thing.

Now that I am starting college, I am definitely trying to change that. I would say that I am fully accepting of myself now and ready to take any false criticism that may come my way. Starting to want to do more social things voluntarily, which is nice.

@Multisubject — Unfortunately, no one likes a Teacher's Pet or tattletale. Especially in middle and high school years. I did that in middle school and I think that is one of the key reasons I have so many enemies. So, no offense to you, but I full-well understand your lack of popularity. Been there, done that.