3 ms·

How about getting extremely drained in loud and chaotic environments where even conversation abilities break down due to noise? Im getting older and give a lot

How about getting extremely drained in loud and chaotic environments where even conversation abilities break down due to noise? Im getting older and give a lot less fucks as well but some things that were extremely unpleasant that I used to have a hard dime with are no longer on my calendar. Why go through the pain when there is zero gain? Why even bother? If I really have to, in such environments, in order to tolerate it I blast white noise on my headphones, kindof pointless in the end if you ask me. Whereas small settings, with less than a dozen people around are a lot more productive. Not hiding this fact makes it even more tolerable, I just excuse myself from these envs.

fsociety 3y ago
I have heard from a psychologist that folks often confuse introversion with social anxiety. Introversion is having your default focus tending to be inwards, whereas social anxiety can make situations like you are describing unbearable. Obviously there are other reasons for this too like overstimulation from sensory input. But I think there is truth to this statement.
- blindhippo 3y ago
  This is what I tend to believe (as a very high scoring introvert on various types of tests). Introversion in a physiological sense is high sensitivity to external stimulation. Fill up the bar too fast, it can cause an anxiety response. Some people then struggle with dealing with overstimulation, leading to anxiety disorders and a learned aversion to high stimulation situations/environments which often social situations are. The nuance, I think, is that what constitutes stimulation isn't objective and will vary from person to person.
  - psunavy03 3y ago
    I'm no psych, but this sounds more like a description of the autism spectrum than introversion.
    - blindhippo 3y ago
      It very much is not what autism is. At a superficial level you can describe some of the characteristics this way, but autism is vastly more complicated then a simple sensitivity to stimuli.
      - psunavy03 3y ago
        Like I said, I'm not a psych, but I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD as a kid and had to get medical waivers approved to join the military and fly. Channelized attention and having to force myself to focus on mundane, boring tasks (with varying levels of success) are a thing I have dealt with my whole life. Oversensitivity to stimuli is not.

fsociety 3y ago

I have heard from a psychologist that folks often confuse introversion with social anxiety. Introversion is having your default focus tending to be inwards, whereas social anxiety can make situations like you are describing unbearable. Obviously there are other reasons for this too like overstimulation from sensory input. But I think there is truth to this statement.

blindhippo 3y ago
This is what I tend to believe (as a very high scoring introvert on various types of tests). Introversion in a physiological sense is high sensitivity to external stimulation. Fill up the bar too fast, it can cause an anxiety response. Some people then struggle with dealing with overstimulation, leading to anxiety disorders and a learned aversion to high stimulation situations/environments which often social situations are. The nuance, I think, is that what constitutes stimulation isn't objective and will vary from person to person.
- psunavy03 3y ago
  I'm no psych, but this sounds more like a description of the autism spectrum than introversion.
  - blindhippo 3y ago
    It very much is not what autism is. At a superficial level you can describe some of the characteristics this way, but autism is vastly more complicated then a simple sensitivity to stimuli.
    - psunavy03 3y ago
      Like I said, I'm not a psych, but I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD as a kid and had to get medical waivers approved to join the military and fly. Channelized attention and having to force myself to focus on mundane, boring tasks (with varying levels of success) are a thing I have dealt with my whole life. Oversensitivity to stimuli is not.