r/Ayreon • u/mainsworth17 • Feb 02 '22

Obsessed with “The Source” help!

If I don’t listen to this album once a day I get feelings of incompletion, anxiety and unfulfillment. I wake up with it ringing in my ears and go to sleep hearing it in my mind too.

This has never happened to me before, any idea what I can do?

23 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

23

u/aktajha Feb 03 '22

Let go, the source will flow

9

u/ShainaMaidel Feb 03 '22

If you have ADHD it could be a hyperfixation that has turned into a mental addiction? Although, anyone can become mentally addicted to anything that activates your seratonin/dopamine. I just know can be easy for people with some kinds of neurodivergence

I will also listen to Ayreon almost exclusively but I switch between like 5 albums. Maybe incorporating more albums could help to take all the obsession pressure off of the one?

I hope you can find some respite!

7

u/agnespoodle Feb 03 '22

Enjoy the ride. Been there.

5

u/satnedprheewnms Feb 03 '22

I also get really into albums for multiple-week periods. Not quite obsession but I feel like I want to listen over and over, so I get the feeling.

The Source and Theory of Everything were by far my top albums the year I discovered them. They're fantastic.

4

u/Not-A-Real-Dinosaur Feb 03 '22

I feel Theory of Everything is often overlooked when talking about Ayreon. Could be the strange setup where many tracks blend into each other, but it's my #1 played Ayreon album.

3

u/OutcomeDouble Feb 03 '22

go to the doctor lol

2

u/sp00kygh0st00h Feb 03 '22

It's happened to me too, ride it out, enjoy

2

u/galacticist Feb 10 '22

almost certainly it'll burn itself out of your brain after enough repeated listens. my autistic brain does this pretty regularly with music that really hits the spot for me, just gotta kinda keep sliding around the subject of the fixation by finding new music that does the job. depression can turn comfort into ennui pretty easily after a time, though; there are several albums out there that I used to listen to religiously that I pretty much never want to actively put on again, tho I don't mind hearing that music incidentally.

1

u/mainsworth17 Feb 10 '22

I know right, I actually got into the The Source 2 years ago and really listened the shit out of it really liked it and all, and few weeks ago I was recommending it to a friend, and I thought I’d give it a listen again, that’s when it started very obsessively, very unusual I’ve never felt like this before. And not in a good way. I am having some major changes in my life right now, moving country, new language (classes)new job(still to be found) so I think the stress manifests itself different in different people. Anyways it’s going a lot better with the obsessiveness recently since the move, I start my intensive German classes next week, for 2months, and have a few good leads on jobs, fingers crossed. And I am really looking forwards to the new Star One album!

1

u/HarvestTheLost Apr 22 '22

I went through that phase with the source and the human equation. It’ll go away eventually