Query for E and I

[Qlip]

Introverts: How long can you without human contact before you start to feel off?

Extroverts: Same question... and can you get too much of people? How long does it take before you want to go into your room and close the door?

 

[wolfy]

Not long, a few hours tops. I need some kind of intermittent contact. I like having people around.

 

[Arclight]

Hmmm Borderline here..

If it's someone I am close to, as long as I get a daily dose of me time.. I can handle them being around indeterminately.

As for being around other people in general.. I could stay away and not miss them at all except I need services and stuff..

Well OK, And sometimes you just got to talk to people. But I have gone long periods of time talking to people as Little as possible.

I normally don't go out for coffee or beer after some event.. unless it's just few close people.
I'm usually one the first people to leave a party.

 

[Katefox]

Completely-alone-no-contact-at-all, hmm, a day or two? It's not uncommon for me to not leave my apartment for a (couple) day(s), and my only contact with the outside world be internet forums, and a phone call from my mother, or my boyfriend.

Contact-with-people-but-limited-strictly-social-interaction, about a week. As in, going to school, and running errands and things that obviously require talking to people, but not doing anything specifically social, except the odd phone call.

On the flip side, the most time I can spend constantly around social people is a day or two before I need some time by myself. (For example, I love my boyfriend's family, but if I spend a weekend with them, I need to hide by myself for the next day to recharge.)

And I don't do purely social things, more than two or three times a week. More is too much, and I need my me-time.

 

[Kasper]

Depends who I'm with, how much I enjoy their company, what things I have to do at home that excite me and so on.

There are times when I have a great desire to be alone, and other times when I have a great desire to socialise.

 

[mippus]

In spite of my high I scores, I do need daily contact with others.

 

[Tabula]

I am a solitary extravert, I believe.
I don't have any single person that I am close to/friends with, so my social interaction is limited to co-workers and bank tellers/cashiers when I run errands. I have a habit of going maybe 2 or 3 times/week to sit at the cafe and pretend to read (can't concentrate well enough to read in public anyway) because I like the feeling of just sitting there in proximity to many other people, even if we don't interact. If I couldn't do this, and was in some kind of solitary confinement, I could go maybe a month before I would start to feel at a loss.
If I could bring my dog and cat, this would certainly change things.

I already get more time alone than I want or need, so I haven't felt the need to "get away" from people when I've been with them, in a very long time. IIRC, when I was more social, the down time I got at night was enough. There were few times when I had to abruptly leave some social thing because I felt too drained, and usually, that had more to do with something else, like being stressed or already tired, than for having been with other people.

edit: I change my mind. I'm not an extravert; I'm just bad at introverting.

 

[Patches]

Depends how you define human contact. 90% of my interaction with humans happens from behind a keyboard. With that interaction, I would happy going months without actually hanging out with someone in person.

 

[Phantonym]

Introverts: How long can you without human contact before you start to feel off?

Can't really say, haven't experienced any seriously prolonged periods without direct human contact. I live alone but I still have to go for grocery shopping at least once a week, so that's human contact right there whether I want it or not, even if it is indirect or not really on a deeper personal level. Most of my interaction happens online or by phone, though.

If I didn't have people in my life whom I'm attached to on a deep personal level, I could probably go on without human contact for a very long time. I have gone without direct contact for a week or so and I felt fine. I'm a very private person at all times and I don't desperately need a lot of human contact anyway. Usually I don't even notice how long it's been. However, I can say that my anxiety definitely heightens after a longer period without direct human contact, I feel out of place around humans then and it takes a while to get used to it, so it's better to have contact on a regular basis than not have it. Or something like that.

 

[Lightyear]

For me I can go for about a day without human contact (and I don't consider going to the grocery store really genuine human contact), after more than a day without people I quickly start feeling depressed. I am certainly an introvert but also the Fe and sx needs people contact or I start feeling off. Some people in this thread are describing that they could go without people contact for a week, despite being an introvert that sounds like hell to me.

 

[Phantonym]

Some people in this thread are describing that they could go without people contact for a week, despite being an introvert that sounds like hell to me.

I can understand that. But personally, I would actually prefer it most of the time, so it sounds like heaven to me.

 

[raminda]

I'm pretty sure I'm I, and in any case I'm surely a social introvert. What with still living with my mother the longest I've gone with absolutely no face-to-face human interaction and no direct internet interaction (as in no chatting, but some foruming) and almost no phone contact (neither talking nor texting) is maybe two or three days, and I could have gone longer for sure. I'm thinking a week and a half could be my upper line, but I'm not sure. When I move out I'll have to stock up on food and see how long I'll last. It could be interesting.

 

[chickpea]

not seeing anyone or no contact at all? i could probably go a week maybe 2 without seeing anyone. but only a couple days without any communication.

 

[Such Irony]

I could probably go several days in a row without any in-person conversation (I don't count things like grocery store).

Without any communication whatsoever, including online forums or email, probably just a day.

 

[gromit]

I like having people around, but not all in my face. Just pleasantly around. Them doing their own thing, me doing mine. Occasional chit chat.

Purely alone, I go maybe a few hours. If I'm by myself too long I end up having to go to the gym or for a walk or see what a friend or my sis is doing, or falling asleep. But usually a roommate comes home after not too long.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Introverts: How long can you without human contact before you start to feel off?

To be honest I'm not sure I've ever reached that limit, as long as you're talking about direct human contact. I've gone as much as a week at a time at home without actually speaking to another person, and I was fine. If I go a long time, my desire for human contact can be fulfilled by simply being in a shopping mall or coffee shop or other place where people gather. But I don't need to actually interact with any of those people. I find that I'm looking to get away from people much more often than I'm looking to connect with them.

The exception would be internet interaction, be it forums like this or IM. Those don't drain me in the same way speaking on the phone or being with people in person do.

 

[Redbone]

I need a good bit of alone time interspersed with periods of background or intense contact with others.

I can satisfy my need for contact by being in the presence of someone I care about (without a lot of interaction) or through online forums/messages between friends. The intense contact--it's the ENTP in me coming out--is the hardest one to satisfy because it consists of idea/thought exchanges. I want them to be like a high-powered racquetball game or where we are playing with the ideas...exploring them. I enjoy plunking down something and getting someone to dissect it with me. It's really hard to find someone to do that with. I want to know what they think. I get intense cravings for responses and feedback. This has gotten me into trouble more than once.

 

[cascadeco]

I was originally going to say 2-3 days before I start becoming too caught up in my head in a negative way, and bored. But that's in everyday life if I am not working at anything or out and about doing things. So, if I'm stuck in my apartment, I'm usually ok for about 2 days - and that's without phone calls or any communication, and a lack of stimulation. Beyond 2 days and I become unhappy.

If I'm really stimulated- let's say I'm traveling somewhere new, or out of the country. From experience I know I can go 10 days virtually totally on my own, entertaining myself, without needing conversations outside of a few sentences here and there. But, in these situations, I am often surrounded by people or am actually DOING something externally - engaging in something in some way and not just totally in my head. At about 10 days, I hit a wall and crave a real connection. When I get past that day or two, I'm good once again and can go another 10 days without much of anything.

My IDEAL in 'normal life', which I strive for, is doing something or other either socially, with my boyfriend, or on my own but still out and about (i.e. a yoga class, or a hike by myself), three or four days a week, with a day to myself, in my apartment, in between all of those days.

But also, with close friends or my boyfriend, I could easily cohabitate with them and see them everyday, while still having my 'alone' time and I wouldn't get overwhelmed or anything.

 

[funkadelik]

Never!

Haha...just kidding, but sometimes it feels that way. However, if I'm with people I find tedious/boring/mean/whiny I will eventually want to get away and do something else. I don't really like interacting with people so much as I like interacting with the world around me.

Although there are some people I can never get enough of.