I'll echo comments about speaking with a therapist. As someone who sees one weekly going on 5 years now, I can attest to how helpful it can be. It changed my li

I'll echo comments about speaking with a therapist. As someone who sees one weekly going on 5 years now, I can attest to how helpful it can be. It changed my life, but in ways I didn't necessarily expect going in. I personally love to be alone. I am a deeply introspective person, and have a "rich inner dialogue" that will always accompany me. I spent some time thinking that lonesomeness was actually my ultimate goal, and that achieving it would bring me happiness. It's not that I hadn't experienced good social interactions, and I had friends, but the allure of solitude was still strong. One of the big realizations I eventually reached was that I actually love being around/with people. And I love being alone. I also came to realize over time that I experience what is characteristic of an "HSP" or "Highly Sensitive Person" [0][1], and when combined with my natural introversion, I would consistently underestimate the energy impact of certain areas of my life (work was a major "forced" interaction), and just didn't understand how to give myself enough time/leeway to rest/recharge after participating in social activities. Bottom line: It's possible to both crave solitude and need (and enjoy) social interaction. Accepting that both are true helped me fight the impulse to be a hermit, and helped me experience much needed social interaction without judging myself for being exhausted by it. And being exhausted by something isn't a bad thing. Some of the best things in life are exhausting. - [0] https://www.verywellmind.com/highly-sensitive-persons-traits-that-create-more-stress-4126393 https://www.verywellmind.com/highly-sensitive-persons-traits... - [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4086365/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4086365/