Is it good to have obsessions?

NO,nothing good can come from obsessions, remember the movie Fatal Attraction – shudders.

It depends on how crippling your obsession is. I have a thing about my hands, I’m always washing them. I am not a full blown germaphobe though. I wash my hands about 5 or 6 times while cooking. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty, like re-potting my plants or even picking up the garbage when the racoons get into it, but right after I HAVE to go and wash up.

deffinitely, if your obsession positively affects your job is an example. l iek if your obsessed to have everything clean you can make a good janitor. if your obsessed in killing everything around you, you would make a good marine.

Ok serious answer now. I don’t have any obsessions though I was an avid stamp collector in my youth (well I didn’t know any better at 9yrs). It only becomes obsessive when it consumes your life. Moderation is the answer to any interests.

I don’t think it’s the healthiest thing to have obsessions, because they can distract you. However, even if I did, I wouldn’t obsess on it – just accept that I’m a little crazy about some things and move on. ;)

What if I am obsessed with obtaining a goal, like writing the great American play or inventing a cure for cancer? If I am obsessed with such a goal, driven to achieve it, might that not be a good thing?

I have an obsession with orderliness and completing checklisted tasks. I never considered it a bad thing per se. It was probably a contributing factor to my being considered an adequate army officer. The obsession is probably helping me fight depression right now, as I am driven internally to complete my daily checklist items despite the lethargy and sense of hopelessness.

Side note: I think what’s an obsession and what’s normal behaviour is a bit of a matter of personal preference. If it’s up to my standards, for example, the majority of the world’s population is obsessed with real life and with the planet Earth. Few people properly appreciate the internet and daydreams, and few care much about anything outside our stratospheric cocoon.
And there are loads of people obsessed with music and celebrities, or sports, or fashion, or their place in a social hierarchy. Not to mention boobies.
Who’s to say such obsessions are healthy behaviour, but an obsession with, say, train models is weird? On what grounds? Psycho-diagnostic mob rule?

I would only worry about it if it impedes your ability to get through the day and uphold your responsibilities.

Is that the Calvin Klein perfume? Yeah got my wife some for Christmas, she smells lovely. So it’s all good.Seriously though, I think an obsession as long as it’s for the good of something, sounds perfectly healthy to me.

I agree with @cprevite but also @Austinlad

perhaps there are good obsessions and bad obsessions

I imagine that where we draw the line though is very much case specific…

Maybe I’m wrong, but I was always under the impression that an obsession implied an extreme preoccupation with someone or some thing; something that was unhealthy.

I never knew there were good and bad obsessions.

(Welcome to Fluther!)

ob⋅ses⋅sion  /əbˈsɛʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uhb-sesh-uhn] Show IPA

noun 1. the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire—etc.
2. the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.
3. the state of being obsessed.
4. the act of obsessing.

Well, according to the definition, it would seem that an obsession would be “bad” if you became so fixated with the object of your attention that it would impede your normal everyday activities or negatively affect your health.

Bravo…great question!

I hope so.

Otherwise I would have to leave this place. :-)

Maybe the less socially acceptable then the stranger it is or can seem.

I dont like touching other peoples ketchup sachets if they’ve been opened…thats not an obsession..just something that makes me feel sick lol.

…for a time, yes.

im obsessed with obsessions.

No. Having passions is enough.

@mattbrowne
What’s the difference, exactly?

Being passionate about something is voluntary and healthy behavior.

Being obsessed with something is unhealthy and compulsive behavior.

@mattbrowne yeah, but that really sounds objective.

@mattbrowne
The “healthy/unhealthy” part is of course no help at all. That’s no less arbitrary than the words “obsession” and “passion” themselves.
But voluntary versus compulsive, you might be on to something there.
Although those notions too are separated by a wide and blurry no man’s land. Ask any smoker if he could quit if he wanted to. And what is volition in this regard, if not a decision to resist or give in to your compulsions?
Is there any way to draw the line unambiguously between where voluntary choice to indulge stops and compulsion begins?

@Fyrius when it comes to voluntary vs non voluntary I’d just call it a compulsion not an obsession.

@Fyrius – Believe me I see this happening in our company every year. Obsessions do lead to burn-out and other troubles more often. Long term passionate employees stay far more healthy. Passionate people usually have multiple passions. They’ve got a better work/life balance. They can actually enjoy vacations. I’ve seen people who are so obsessed with their work, they can’t wind down. Turning off the cell phone? Blackberry? No way. Over time this is very unhealthy.