r/AspieGirls • u/88PinwheelStar88 • 17d ago
Why did I suddenly stop liking my special interest?
So ive had a special interest in the game Don't Starve for a year now, it's a game I think about constantly, but I tried to recently get in touch with a community revolving around the game on reddit and I made a post that didn't go over well with the subreddit, and I just got dogpiled by people telling me that I was playing the game the wrong way, which ended in me deleting the post. I honestly felt really scared by this incident, especially since multiple people started coming at me all at once, I mean, Reddit is by no means a safe space, but I expected myself to handle things better than this. Now I have suddenly lost interest in the game altogether and I kind of feel sad when I look at it again. I need help to emotionally recover from this because I don't want to loose another special interest. How do I start feeling good about thr game again?
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u/His_little_pet 16d ago
I'm guessing your lost interest in the game is due to negative emotions spilling over from the post you made, even if you aren't consciously aware of them. Those sorts of comments can create really insidious shame that messes with a person's ability to enjoy something. I'd either try playing anyways to rediscover what you love about it or take a little break to let those emotions mellow out. I have a special interest in women's ice hockey, so I'm forced to take a break every summer, which I think has done me good in terms of maintaining interest.
For what it's worth, I'll say that the whole point of games is for them to be fun, so if you're playing Don't Starve in a way that's fun for you, you're playing it right. Screw those people who say otherwise.
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u/meowkitty84 17d ago
Did you delete the post? I don't see one where you got dogpiled
Special interests can change..I go through through phases and get into something else for a while..I may go back to it a couple months or years.
I would try to not to be sensitive about people on Reddit..They downvote over nothing..I have seen really talented amazing people say they want to stop posting on Reddit due to downvotes. And their posts are popular and have like 500 upvotes. But I guess they see the notification that their post got 1000 upvotes so when they see the post only has 500 it means just as many people downvoted them.
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u/88PinwheelStar88 17d ago
I try not to be sensitive, but it can be really hard at times. For some reason, getting downvotes makes me panic.
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u/88PinwheelStar88 17d ago
Yeah I did delete it because I just wanted to get rid of the stress it caused me.
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u/LilyoftheRally 16d ago
I'm guessing you deleted the post because of rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD), which is common for Aspies.
Try to play the game again despite others trying to gatekeep how you play it.
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u/lebaptiste_ 16d ago
I feel you. Mine was Fallout 76 for over a year, probably close to 3. I'm burnt out and having a hard time latching onto something new. It's a wild ride and I hate change, but we can do it~
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u/Ask_Aspie_ 17d ago
Yeah they change and it is weird in that transitionary time between this and the next one. The first time it happened to me was when I was 16 and I went into a depression for a while and then just like that a new special interest emerged .
Maybe your interest didn't change and your mind is just protecting you against the rejection you got about your interest. Just play the game how you want to. Don't listen to other people. Get out of that subreddit, and just play and watch videos about it or whatever you did before. If that isn't fun anymore, look for similar games. Maybe you will get a special interest in that.