user11483: The five hindrances consist of sensual desires. ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and doubt. I have often wondered why the first hindrance are limited to sensual desires as this is leaving out the desires/attachment that one can have to other things, like desires for power/control, to be loved or approved of, to achieve, to feel secure. I have always wondered why these are not included as obstacles to spiritual freedom in the dhamma, as they are often much more in the foreground than sensual desires when trying to obtain concentration. Thoughts like "I should have done otherwise", "why did she say so to me", "I need to find a solution", "I must improve" are coming from such needs or attachments. I cannot understand why the first hindrance only talks about sensual desires when there are all these other desires? 

user8157: The five hindrances is a teaching for meditators &, originally, obviously primarily for monks. Therefore, the worldly desires mentioned are generally not relevant to the life of a monk. The point of sensual desire is, obviously, it is a biologically based desire (in relation to sex & food) that is difficult to extinguish. 
As for some of the other examples in the question, such as  "I should have done otherwise", "why did she say so to me", "I need to find a solution", "I must improve", these appear to be examples of the hindrance of restlessness & remorse. "Why did she say so to me" could also be ill-will.

user254: Perhaps desires for "things" are ultimately sensual ... including power, social status, physical security ... because how could you desire these things if you were unable to sense them?
But some desires might not be considered unwholesome, a hindrance: wanting to improve, wanting to find liberation, etc.,  may be considered skillful.
Thoughts like these may be quieted eventually but I'm not sure they're a hindrance (or not necessarily and unambiguously a hindrance) as such.
Some desires (i.e. chanda as opposed to tanha) are seen as wholesome and even necessary.

user10802: It seems that the five hindrances are obstacles to the five factors to be developed in the first jhana. There are other hindrances but these five are important in the context of progress in meditation.
According to Access To Insight:

Buddhaghosa states that the abandonment of the five hindrances alone
  is mentioned in connection with jhana because the hindrances are the
  direct enemies of the five jhana factors, which the latter must
  eliminate and abolish. To support his point the commentator cites a
  passage demonstrating a one-to-one correspondence between the jhana
  factors and the hindrances: one-pointedness is opposed to sensual
  desire, rapture to ill will, applied thought to sloth and torpor,
  happiness to restlessness and worry, and sustained thought to doubt
  (Vism. 141; PP.147). Thus each jhana factor is seen as having the
  specific task of eliminating a particular obstruction to the jhana and
  to correlate these obstructions with the five jhana factors they are
  collected into a scheme of five hindrances.

The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html#ch1

user471: Meditation teacher Gil Fronsdal comments here on why this hindrance is focused on sensual desires rather than other desires:

Perhaps sensual desire is singled out as particularly hazardous to
  meditators because reaching for pleasure and avoiding pain are more
  basic than other desires. Even when the mind is still enough not to be
  caught up in other desires, the enticement of pleasure can still be
  operating. When the grip of sensual desire is strong, it often pulls
  us into the world of fantasy and imagination. Sometimes it is the
  pleasure of fantasizing itself that holds us more than the object of
  our wants.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with sensual pleasure, the
  desire for it is called a hindrance when it interferes with our
  ability to stay present. During meditation, even the most innocent
  desire can distract awareness from the razor’s edge of the present
  moment. If we want to stay on that edge, we need to let go of anything
  that causes us to slip off it.

Obsession with more complex desires would fall under the hindrance of restlessness and worry:

Frustrated desire and pent-up aversion are common causes of agitation.
  Fear and resentment are others. Dissatisfaction is a cause that can
  keep the mind restless with searching. Trying too hard in meditation
  can also stir up the mind. When any of these are primary, it can be
  more useful to be mindful of them than the restlessness. Ignoring the
  causes can keep us skimming the surface; being mindful of the
  underlying causes can help with the settling.


11483: <p>The five hindrances consist of sensual desires. ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and doubt. I have often wondered why the first hindrance are limited to sensual desires as this is leaving out the desires/attachment that one can have to other things, like desires for power/control, to be loved or approved of, to achieve, to feel secure. I have always wondered why these are not included as obstacles to spiritual freedom in the dhamma, as they are often much more in the foreground than sensual desires when trying to obtain concentration. Thoughts like "I should have done otherwise", "why did she say so to me", "I need to find a solution", "I must improve" are coming from such needs or attachments. I cannot understand why the first hindrance only talks about sensual desires when there are all these other desires? </p>
 8157: <p>The five hindrances is a teaching for meditators &amp;, originally, obviously primarily for monks. Therefore, the worldly desires mentioned are generally not relevant to the life of a monk. The point of sensual desire is, obviously, it is a biologically based desire (in relation to sex &amp; food) that is difficult to extinguish. </p>

<p>As for some of the other examples in the question, such as  "I should have done otherwise", "why did she say so to me", "I need to find a solution", "I must improve", these appear to be examples of the hindrance of restlessness &amp; remorse. "Why did she say so to me" could also be ill-will.</p>
 254: <p>Perhaps desires for "things" are ultimately sensual ... including power, social status, physical security ... because how could you desire these things if you were unable to sense them?</p>

<p>But some desires might not be considered unwholesome, a hindrance: wanting to improve, wanting to find liberation, etc.,  may be considered skillful.
Thoughts like these may be quieted eventually but I'm not sure they're a hindrance (or not necessarily and unambiguously a hindrance) as such.</p>

<p>Some desires (i.e. <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanda_(Buddhism)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">chanda</a></em> as opposed to <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tanha</a></em>) are seen as wholesome and even <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn51/sn51.015.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">necessary</a>.</p>
 10802: <p>It seems that the five hindrances are obstacles to the five factors to be developed in the first jhana. There are other hindrances but these five are important in the context of progress in meditation.</p>

<p>According to <strong>Access To Insight</strong>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Buddhaghosa states that the abandonment of the five hindrances alone
  is mentioned in connection with jhana because the hindrances are the
  direct enemies of the five jhana factors, which the latter must
  eliminate and abolish. To support his point the commentator cites a
  passage demonstrating a one-to-one correspondence between the jhana
  factors and the hindrances: one-pointedness is opposed to sensual
  desire, rapture to ill will, applied thought to sloth and torpor,
  happiness to restlessness and worry, and sustained thought to doubt
  (Vism. 141; PP.147). Thus each jhana factor is seen as having the
  specific task of eliminating a particular obstruction to the jhana and
  to correlate these obstructions with the five jhana factors they are
  collected into a scheme of five hindrances.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation
<a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html#ch1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html#ch1</a></p>
 471: <p>Meditation teacher Gil Fronsdal comments <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/the-five-hindrances-handouts/sensual-desire-as-a-hindrance/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> on why this hindrance is focused on sensual desires rather than other desires:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Perhaps sensual desire is singled out as particularly hazardous to
  meditators because reaching for pleasure and avoiding pain are more
  basic than other desires. Even when the mind is still enough not to be
  caught up in other desires, the enticement of pleasure can still be
  operating. When the grip of sensual desire is strong, it often pulls
  us into the world of fantasy and imagination. Sometimes it is the
  pleasure of fantasizing itself that holds us more than the object of
  our wants.</p>
  
  <p>While there is nothing inherently wrong with sensual pleasure, the
  desire for it is called a hindrance when it interferes with our
  ability to stay present. During meditation, even the most innocent
  desire can distract awareness from the razor’s edge of the present
  moment. If we want to stay on that edge, we need to let go of anything
  that causes us to slip off it.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Obsession with more complex desires would fall under the hindrance of <a href="http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/the-five-hindrances-handouts/the-hindrance-of-restlessness-worry/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">restlessness and worry</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Frustrated desire</strong> and pent-up aversion are common causes of agitation.
  Fear and resentment are others. Dissatisfaction is a cause that can
  keep the mind restless with searching. Trying too hard in meditation
  can also stir up the mind. When any of these are primary, it can be
  more useful to be mindful of them than the restlessness. Ignoring the
  causes can keep us skimming the surface; being mindful of the
  underlying causes can help with the settling.</p>
</blockquote>
