Icarus213: In the counseling field the biggest question we try to answer whenever an issue is a big deal for anyone is, "Is it maladaptive?" meaning, does the issue cause the person to have problems in different areas of his life? Does he feel bad about himself? Does it interfere in his relationships with other people? Does it cause him to "lose out on life" in any way? If the answers to these questions is generally no, then the issue, despite the fact he may give it a lot of attention, is not really a problem unless he sees it as such.

Bottom line, giving a lot of attention to a subject is only an "obsession" if it causes problems for you. Otherwise it is just a silly hobby :-*