If you’re really into the TV show you’re bingeing, you might spend an entire weekend afternoon tearing through episodes—taking stretch breaks or refreshing Reddit or ordering takeout while you’re at it.
Now, imagine taking it up a level. If you’re hyperfixated on that show, you’ll be so engrossed you’ll forget to eat or get up to go to the bathroom; you won’t check for new messages on your phone or collect the groceries the delivery guy dropped off, emerging only after you’ve finished the entire series.
“Hyperfixating is focusing on something with intensity,” says Saba Harouni Lurie, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles. “It could be an interest, it could be a person, it could be a hobby, it could be a place—and when you’re very involved with it, often that means other things are going to be disregarded or won’t be as interesting.”
We asked experts what it really feels like to hyperfixate, and how to address it.
An extreme level of focus
Hyperfixating is different from plain old focusing because it’s much more extreme, says Julie Landry, a clinical psychologist who specializes in adult ADHD and autism. The majority of her clients struggle with hyperfixation, and she’s personally experienced it, as well, especially when it comes to her work.
Someone who’s hyperfixating might listen to the same album on repeat, watch (and then rewatch) a favorite TV series, train incessantly to achieve an athletic goal, spend extensive time researching a random interest, or crochet until their fingers go numb. They often talk about their interest at length, go out of their way to learn more about it, and spend a majority of their time doing things related to it.
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When you’re so transfixed on one pursuit, other responsibilities tend to fall by the wayside. “Sometimes we neglect other things or other people,” Landry says. “Maybe we don’t show up in our relationships the way we should, or we neglect personal hygiene.” A teenager, for example, might play video games for the entire day, never stopping to wash his hands or brush his teeth. “Hyperfixation sort of sucks you in,” she says. “Sometimes people talk about the vortex or rabbit hole. It’s hard to get out of once you’re in it.”
If you’re hyperfixating on something, Landry adds, you won’t think about anything else. It simply won’t register in your brain.
Who’s most likely to hyperfixate?
Anyone can experience hyperfixation, but it’s particularly common among people with neurodivergent conditions, including ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, as well as anxiety disorders like OCD. It manifests in slightly different ways in different types of people, says Dr. Zishan Khan, a psychiatrist with Mindpath Health, which provides in-person and online psychiatry and therapy services.
People with autism, for example, tend to have special interests that result in in-depth knowledge or passion about a topic, says Khan, who recalls a patient fascinated by vacuums. “He knows literally everything about vacuum cleaners,” he says. “You could ask him how it works or a specific model number, and he’ll be able to tell you all that—and that’s due to hyperfixation.”
Hyperfixation among people with ADHD might seem “paradoxical,” Khan acknowledges. “You would think they’d be easily distracted, but when it comes to certain activities they find extremely stimulating,” they can become so locked in, they lose track of time and neglect other tasks for hours.
People with OCD, meanwhile, might experience intense unwanted thoughts that their days revolve around, like cleaning the house to avoid contamination or obsessing over one specific person, like a potential love interest.
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The upsides and challenges
Hyperfixation isn’t inherently good or bad, experts agree. There can be benefits, especially for people who know how to harness it: Becoming utterly immersed in something often stimulates an incredible amount of passion, creativity, and learning. “It can be really fulfilling, and very similar to a flow state,” Lurie says.
People can become experts in this way; if a college student is hyperfixated on 17th-century literature, for example, their English papers will likely impress. Many of the adults with autism who Landry has worked with turned the subject they hyperfixated on as kids into successful careers. “If you’re already going to spend so much time and energy becoming an expert in something, then making it into a career is super smart,” she says. “As opposed to spending eight hours a day doing this thing that you don’t like and aren’t interested in.”
Plus, having a special interest can be comforting. Landry thinks of it as a way to self-soothe: “If we’re engaging in something that we really enjoy, especially at a deep level, usually that feels really good,” she says. It’s even a way to connect with likeminded people. If you’re really into gardening, for example, you could join a gardening club—or simply bond over talking about that season’s bounty with your neighbors.
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Yet there are challenges, too. Kids might fall behind on schoolwork; adults could become distracted during the workday or overspend on supplies related to their hobby. When people are hyperfixating on something, they often struggle in social situations—either because they find it difficult to engage with friends or they simply stop paying attention to them.
People often seek help because someone else in their life has become frustrated with their tendency to hyperfixate. Patients have told Khan, “My spouse is complaining that all I do is garden all day,” he recalls. Then they might add: “When I stop doing it, I get restless, uncomfortable, frustrated, and irritable.” That can be a wake-up call. “You don’t realize it’s becoming a problem until someone else points it out,” he says.
Managing hyperfixation
There are several ways to manage hyperfixation and ensure you’re tapping into the positives, rather than inadvertently neglecting important aspects of your life. Experts suggest these strategies:
Set time limits
If you’re going to do something you know you’re likely to be sucked into, set a timer. Khan advises patients to allow themselves one hour for an activity—and to be strict about it. “Don’t be like, ‘Oh, I’ll just snooze this and go back to playing the video game for another 10-15 minutes and then get up,’” he says. “Go take a walk outside, get some coffee, or chat on the phone.”
Enlist an accountability partner
If you’re having relationship problems because of your tendency to hyperfixate, try involving your partner in whatever you’re focusing on. It’s also a good idea to ask someone you’re close to for an assist. “Maybe you really like cats, and you want to talk about cats with other people all the time,” Landry says. “That’s what you’re interested in, but not everybody else wants to hear about cats, at least not all the time or at the level that you’re interested in.” When you start to overdo it on feline facts, your accountability partner could remind you: “Hey, maybe we can talk about something else for a little while now.”
Leverage your kid’s interest into other opportunities
If you’re parenting a child who’s prone to hyperfixation, check in with them often, Khan suggests: “Hey, did you forget to eat because of your game? Are your eyes hurting from too much screen time?” “Sometimes that will click in their mind,” he adds. “They might say at first, ‘No, no, I’m fine,’ but they’ll start thinking, ‘Wait a minute, I am kind of tired,’ or ‘I am hungry.’”
It’s also helpful to think about ways to expand your kid’s interests into other meaningful pursuits. If your teen really likes Minecraft, for example, consider introducing him to architecture or coding. “You could say, ‘Hey, we’re going to take a break and do something fun,’” Khan suggests. “‘Let’s try to code to make a video game or build something with our hands.’”
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