It is inevitable that most people who are neurodivergent will have those interests, activities, or projects that will trigger a hyperfocus. It will become all-consuming. They will think about it all day. They won't truly be happy until they can spend significant time on it each day. Balance is not really a typical neurodivergent trait. It is all or nothing, even if reality says that is possible. But we try.
But it can sometimes lead to certain obsessions that may not be entirely happy. There is a reason so many neurodivergent people struggle with substance abuse, addiction, and anxiety. They become fixated on that one thing, and feel it is necessary to survive a day in the world never truly designed for them.
I recognize that while I am lucky to not have fallen into drug addiction, I do have my things that my brain feels are the most monumental tasks and I'll obsess about daily, and get upset if interrupted, that are not particularly helpful for my life, relationships, and career.
Just quitting has not proven to be possible for me. Or at least. not without much blood and tears shed, and a completely drained body left to be nothing but a husk. But I do think I can gradually shift my obsessive and hyperfocus into things that are far more beneficial. Slowly introduce things that are similar but will either advance my career or bring actual joy to my life.
Neurodivergent people have to face that hyperfocus and special interests are just a necessary part of their life. It is finding those things and gently nudging them in a way that betters their life.
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