Hyperfixation, Special Interest, and Monotropism
If you’re neurodivergent or suspect you might be, you’ve probably done and enormous amount of research on hyperfocus and special interests (It’s how we roll), but for those of you hearing these terms for the first time, here’s a basic breakdown.
I want to stress at this point that I am NOT any kind of doctor, this is how I interpret the information and apply it to my life.
Hyperfocus is the ability to lock into a topic or activity, and I mean LOCK IN.
Hyperfixation is an activity or topic that has caught your attention and won’t let go. It consumes enormous amounts of your time, you have a LOT of trouble stopping, and you learn and retain an enormous amount of skill or knowledge around the topic.
Special Interests (also known as SPINS) involve hyperfocus, but its the LENGTH and DEPTH of the interest that holds it apart from hyperfixation. Whereas hyperfixations may be transient, lasting anywhere from a single afternoon to months or years even, special interests remain a source of intense interest, and are a preferential activity, often providing deep joy and/or sensory stimulation.
There are two types of processing styles, Monotropism, and Polytropism.
Monotropism as the name suggests, involves one or very few special interests of greater depth (and is more common in neurodivergent people), whereas polytropism usually involves multiple interests often to a lesser degree of intensity (which does include neurodivergent people, but is more common in allistic people).
Monotropic minds tend to lock in and filter out unnecessary information (like needing the bathroom or food!) while consumed by a preferential activity. This is one of the reasons that neurodivergent people struggle in fast paced or frequent focus changing environments like school, workplaces, and shopping centres.
Speaking for myself, I’m monotropic. I can split my attention between many topics at once (the stereotypical ADHDer on their phone while watching a movie, while mentally planning dinner), but when it comes to areas of profound interest, I tend to focus narrowly, especially if the activity or topic involves my sensory preferences with sound or texture (like typing up a blog post about autism and ADHD on my favourite keyboard). I also lose myself into transient interests, usually driven by an urge ‘to know’ or ‘to do’. I have been known to research topics of interests for hours at a time.
SPINS aren’t just about fun, they are regulating and can form huge parts of a neurodivergent persons personality, sometimes even providing the link between them and the world.
Not that anyone asked (but thats ALSO our thing lol) here are some of my areas of interest:
Sharks (particularly Great White Sharks)
Dinosaurs (particularly marine dwelling prehistoric animals which are not technically dinosaurs like Mosasaurus and Megalodon)
Pastels. All of them
Spores, Molds, and Fungus (points if you get that reference)
Forensics (especially fingerprints)
Computer keyboards (specifically switches and the various sounds)
Sylvanian Families (the families specifically, the flocking and their little faces!)
Witchcraft and the occult (particularly herbology and seasons)
Meteorology (especially tornados and hurricanes)
Paper (especially junk journal making and collecting paper types)
Bugs (especially tardigrades and beetles)
Fonts (I will click into a websites code to see what font they used lol)
Organic Vegetable gardening (especially heritage varieties)
Stickers (making them and collecting them, not so much using them)
And last but not least, my favourite show and movies to rewatch
The Mentalist (number one favourite tv show)
Jurassic Park (and others in the series)
Jaws
Rear Window
Basic (John Travolta and Connie Nielsen)
Ghostbusters (the OG).
I also made a short video talking about this topic, which I have linked below. The video was filmed the same day I filmed my ‘What an autistic shutdown feels like in real time’ video, so its a little more chaotic than usual!