Here's a thread on hyperfixations with an emphasis on celebrity hyperfixations because a lot of people don’t know much about them. Hyperfixations are common with ADHD, and a more specific “special interest” is common in autism.

I am not an expert in anything, I’m 17 years old with personal experience who has done a fair amount of research on this topic. Hyperfixations are different for everyone and this is not meant to be a tool for self-diagnosis. They also aren’t ADHD/autism exclusive.

“Hyperfixation” is an umbrella term used by people with learning, developmental, or mental disabilities. “Special interest” is used in autistic circles in reference to autistic people. SIs are very intense and narrow interests with long-term commitment (months or even lifelong).

Hyperfixations are much more than a hobby. They are met with lots of enthusiasm towards a subject, and it’s very consuming. It can be very hard or impossible to stop thinking or talking about it due to an inability to shift focus to something new.

Fixations can last any duration of time, some last a few weeks, some last a month, etc. Gathering more information about a current fixation becomes very important to the person and it’s common to neglect other interests while fixating on something.

Fixations are formed, usually, as a way to cope with anxiety and/or depression or as "self-medication" for ADHD/autism/etc, like an escape.

In my experience, fixating on something can be very chaotic. It’s like a constant stream of thoughts regarding the fixation and it takes up much of my time, whether through me talking about my fixation or researching it or doing things related to the fixation.

It can be incredibly frustrating to feel such a lack of control over your own thoughts and words.

Fixations can be so strong that people lose sleep over them because they can't stop thinking about it, or sometimes damage relationships with others because it's too hard to focus on anything other than the fixation.

Many people who hyperfixate rely on their fixation for stability and comfort, which is where the celebrities come in. It’s important to note that all or most of what I’ll say about celebrity fixations can apply to other fixations, I’m just focusing on this type.

Celebrity fixations go beyond simple idolisation. Lots of times, people who fixate on a celebrity become extremely emotionally attached to them. Celebrity fixations can often lead to the person’s happiness and mental stability depending on the celebrity.

When someone fixates on a celebrity, it might be very easy for the person to see the celebrity as absolutely perfect and someone who couldn’t do anything wrong. Finding out they did something wrong or that they aren’t the person you thought they were can be devastating—

—the type of devastating that can send a person spiralling. Fixations are often adopted by the person, and any hate or “bad information” surfacing can be taken as an extremely personal loss.

For example, if someone’s fixation was frogs and they were told frogs were ugly, it can seem like a personal attack. The person might become defensive, or have an extreme emotional reaction, and it can occasionally go so far as to cause panic attacks or depressive episodes.

This might seem trivial to an outsider, but fixations become incredibly individualised, and what seems like no big deal to one person might feel like the end of the world to another.

This next part is about normalised/unknown ableism with celebrity fixations, specifically when a celebrity has done something wrong—because very often a celebrity gets “cancelled” and fans who fixate are overlooked.

When a celebrity has done something extremely wrong and is rightfully called out, a lot of people (especially here on twitter) tell others to unstan and to unfollow the celebrity.

This is ableist because it assumes everyone can move on and drop a celebrity at any given moment—including people who have fixated on the celebrity and become emotionally dependent on them, which is extremely unfair.

This extends to telling people to unfollow a celebrity within a certain amount of time. This is a guilt-based tactic that’s very harmful and results in people who hyperfixate feeling forced to go against everything their brain tells them.

This kind of guilt-tripping can actually be harmful regardless of hyperfixations because everyone needs time to process whether they have fixated on a celebrity or not.

Similar phrases to avoid saying include things like “glad I never stanned them” or “unfollow me if you’re going to keep stanning them.”

Finally, it’s important to note that most people who fixate are aware that celebrity fixation is not the healthiest coping mechanism. You might be reading this and thinking that fixating on a celebrity and depending on them for mental stability is unwise—and you’re right.

Even though fixating people know this information, it’s impossible to control or prevent a hyperfixation—so while a person might completely disagree with something their celebrity fixation has done, there might be a reason as to why they can’t unstan.

I think that’s all I have for now so please just spread this information and be mindful of what you say!! I can try to answer any questions you have as well as I can :)

special thanks to eva @lovingotb for proofreading and helping me edit <3

another thing that was brought up just now was the phrase “stop talking about your fav and focus on ____ instead” which i hadn’t ever thought about but seeing it now, it’s really insensitive.

if you want people to talk about something, urge them to talk about ___ in addition to their fav. like i said earlier it’s extremely hard for people to stop talking about their fixation and shift their focus.

check to see if someone is sharing resources before talking to them, and you can contact by sending them a dm asking if they’ve seen what’s going on—they might’ve not even seen anything yet. you could also ask them to use their rant/priv to talk about their fav.

twitter’s tendency for having bursts of activism can be very overwhelming for neurodivergent people because of how unpredictable and intense they are. avoid saying “read the room” and be gentle with spreading awareness.

thank you to vinnie @scriptedyoongi for help with this last part, their input was super helpful!

if you could click here and rt this tweet too that would be great!! https://twitter.com/rainberriies/status/1301651346244993024