Introverts: How Do You Experience Introversion?

[FFF]

I'm surprised nobody made this one based on the extroverted one.

When any introverts out there can tear themselves away from the books they're currently reading, please take a moment to explain how you experience introversion.

What stimulates you? How much external stimulation can you tolerate? What is your internal world like? How much alone time do you need and how often do you need it? What comes along with being an introvert that most people don't realize?

Thank you for your participation. You may return to your book reading.

[sassafrassquatch]

For me it's like claustrophobia. Being around people is like being stuck inside a cramped, hot, stuffy space with no room to move. When I get to be alone again it's like being able to stretch out and it's cool and refreshing.

People suck.

[Griffi97]

Originally Posted by ImNotTooPopular

What stimulates you? How much external stimulation can you tolerate? What is your internal world like? How much alone time do you need and how often do you need it? What comes along with being an introvert that most people don't realize?

Hhmmm... Let me think about this one.

What stimulates me is finding another person who I can relate to and discuss things in depth. I also really enjoy movies that stimulate the same type of thought processes, new ideas, things I've never thought about, etc. Lessons on humanity.

I am a veterinarian and work about 3 days a week, which is about all the external stimulation I can take. I interact with people all day, both staff members who are familiar to me and clients, many of whom I don't know well or have never met. My primary reason for being there is for the animals, but I do enjoy the aspect of helping the owners as well, as I deeply appreciate the human-animal bond and I naturally empathize with both the pet and the person when there are problems.

As far as what my internal world is like, I would say I spend a lot of time thinking, pondering possibilites, remembering past events and trying to analyze how they impact my current behavior. I often have trouble sleeping at night, especially if I have been overstimulated that day by interacting with too many people.

I need alone time every day. I always make it a point to go home at lunch when I'm working, just to get away from the constant interaction with so many people. On days when my husband is working and I'm home, I will spend almost the whole day in silent thought, sometimes organizing things and working on ongoing projects, and sometimes just sitting with my dogs and enjoying their company. On days when my husband and I are both home, I feel a little invaded. It is strange since he and I are so close and I crave at least some attention from him every day. But I still need my own space.

What most people don't realize about intraverts... I think extraverts are a bit confused at times when I don't show an outward reaction to things. They sometimes assume there is no emotional response when in fact the emotions are tightly under wraps rather than on display for the whole world to see.

[Nadir]

I get my best ideas while I'm
i. taking a shower
ii. laying in bed in the total darkness of my room

And I solve problems
iii. when I don't concentrate on finding the solution.

I suppose due to my Fe in the auxillary place I can tolerate social gatherings and dinners and whatnot as long as they don't happen too often. I know when I'm drained, though.

I only need alone time when I feel drained. Otherwise it's simply a preference. Well, inherently I am both social and a loner -- I can't really function without loved ones and friends, and I can be affectionate too -- but more of the latter.

Generally I get along with people. I've never held a grudge in my life. In real life I could be characterized as happy-go-lucky to an extent, and rather serious to another extent. But mostly I'm calm and a silent fellow. I am also shy and I suck at eye contact especially with females I find attractive in some way, as I generally avert my eyes just as they meet, see my signature. Recently found out that alcohol helps. :) (Yeah, I have no girlfriend. Sue me!)

I'm not quite sure about what stimulates me. I definitely like reading a lot, and have a preference for fiction. I can devour any book if I find it stimulating or engaging enough. I also spend a lot of my free time reading Wikipedia in a fairly passive sort of way, you could say that I maintain this ever-existing, passive curiosity towards the world. Often it manifests in ambivalence -- I can't say I'm passionate about a great deal of things. I like introspection and especially looking at things from perspectives I hadn't thought of before. Reading, and to a lesser extent, social interaction and observation helps achieve these new perspectives. I used to frown at myself for being so reliant on these factors to cause these shifts in view -- then I realized that's just how things work. See, there's an example!

Generally though my self-esteem isn't high. Speaking a bit more specifically as an IN, I can't live the moment. (though alcohol helps here too!). I am also a bit of an underachiever (according to external sources, of course) at my high school with no favourte or disliked subjects -- due to the aforementioned ambivalence, I don't really spend any time on schoolwork, and so far I've found that nothing really engages me very much, regardless of the difficulty. (it is not the case that I breeze through everything) I just felt like mentioning it as it probably has ties to the natural self-absorption of most introverts.

This was fun. Hope it's been informative.

[Jae Rae]

I experience my introversion as a need for time alone, space, quiet and not too much stimulation. Usually I can handle two social events in one day, eg, a walk with a friend in the morning and coffee in the afternoon with another, but then don't feel like doing something in the evening.

Too much commotion is upsetting; eg, a group of loud people in a confined space bothers me. I ran into such a situation today - some middle school kids were goofing around in a small library. I fled.

Meeting and greeting many people is very tiring. When I worked at an annual international book fair comprised of 240+ dealers and 1000s of customers, it was heavenly to escape to the little hospitality room for a cup of coffee and silence. An Introvert must have designed it - a quiet space completely enclosed by blue fabric walls.

That said, I love to relate to people, either one on one or in small groups. Like Nadir, I need friends and loved ones, just not too many at once.

I get stimulation from friends, family, books, classes, volunteer jobs, walking in nature, the Internet, films and my hobbies.

It's hard for some people, including my family, to understand how uncomfortable I feel when overstimulated by noise, bright lights and too much sensation. Superstores are my undoing for this reason. I don't even like overhead lights at home, preferring a softer diffused light from lamps.

Jae Rae

[FFF]

I read somewhere that introverts don't like noisy work environments, but if they have a low need for stability (high T), then they're likely to be able to adapt to anything. That's how I was with school work. I didn't care too much about the environment.

[FFF]

My experience of introversion is experienced as a disinterest in most people, but then again, I am able to become very interested in certain appealing individuals. I do like to talk and socialize with interesting people, but it's getting harder and harder to find those these days.

I'm an INTP so new ideas stimulate me. I really do like to think about complex, abstract things, and I spend a lot of time doing this. I know. It makes me the life of the party.

I can't tolerate as much external stimulation as the average person. The more annoying the stimulation, the worse it is.

My internal world involves lots of thinking about abstract concepts and lots of introspection. Sometimes I think about music too, but music is getting old cause I know too much about it. Sometimes, now, I can hear guitar parts and know exactly how to play them on a guitar before I even pick it up. It's just based on similarities to songs or scales I already know.

I'm not sure how much alone time I need, because I generally don't have too many oppurutunities to be with people. However much, I need, I get more than enough.

Being an introvert keeps me from making enemies.

[SolitaryPenguin]

I find that I honestly hate being alone, but at the same time, I need to be at times. I get so overwhelmed with any social situation that I have to randomly, and usually out of nowhere, remove myself from it. Once I am alone, I end up missing the group dynamic, and wonder why I ended up wanting to hang out by myself. I am not sure if I am so close on the E/I border that both of those things end up competing with each other, or if this is a normal thing that I's tend to go through.

[millerm277]

What stimulates you?

To be honest, I don't really know. I suppose it's just whatever interests me. If I find something interesting, I could spend hours learning or reading about it, or working on it. (I've stayed up to 2 or 3AM before just reading about something that interested me for some reason.).

Most of the time, I'm quiet, serious, somewhat shy, and generally don't really do too much, but then there are times, like last week, where I spent around 19 hours a day in school, going to classes, and then working on building a robot for a competition until close to midnight. If something gets my interest, I can throw myself at it, and not just ignore everything else, I truly won't feel it. I was more awake on those days with 4 hours of sleep than I normally am with 9 hours.

How much external stimulation can you tolerate?

That all depends on who I'm with. If I'm with a group of people that I don't know and/or don't share any interests with, I want to leave as soon as possible. I can spend days at a time with a friend or two, and in groups with people that I know well/have common interests with, I can spend lots of time as well without feeling "drained".

What is your internal world like?

Hmm. It's sort of where I work things out/go over what I or others have done/said. I do my best thinking alone.

My "internal world" is also where I tend to rationalize/reduce most emotions/stress. It's not that I don't have them, you just never see them unless something so extreme that I can't handle it internally happens. (Only once that I can remember). I might not cry at a funeral, but I'm probably more upset than you on the inside. I use activities as a way to let them out of me, usually skiing, making something, or occasionally, paintball.

How much alone time do you need and how often do you need it?

How much time all depends on what I've been doing, as I said above. However, I always do need at least some time to myself, going more than a few days without some alone time does mess me up a bit.

[INTJMom]

Originally Posted by ImNotTooPopular

I'm surprised nobody made this one based on the extroverted one.

When any introverts out there can tear themselves away from the books they're currently reading, please take a moment to explain how you experience introversion.

What stimulates you? How much external stimulation can you tolerate? What is your internal world like? How much alone time do you need and how often do you need it? What comes along with being an introvert that most people don't realize?

Thank you for your participation. You may return to your book reading.

Just for the record, I don't read very much. I'm very visual and prefer video.

It would take an enormous amount of time to figure out accurate answers to your questions, so I'm just going to leave you with one observation.

A few years ago, I had an ISFJ friend who would come over to my house every day. She would arrive about 5 minutes after my kids got on the bus and she would leave when they got home. In about 2 or 3 weeks I became very depressed and had suicidal thoughts. The first time it happened, I didn't know what was the matter with me. When it happened again a short while later, I realized that it was because I had gone too long without being alone.

It's not just that I wasn't alone. She was also very emotionally demanding. I had to be careful of her feelings when I talked. I was under a lot of stress and pressure when she was here.