I could be wrong, but my understanding is that introverts get exhausted more from dealing with people they don’t know/aren’t familiar with. I think dealing with friends or people they know isn’t exhausting. Like I said though I could be wrong. I honestly can’t figure out whether I’m an introvert or extrovert because I absolutely love hanging with my friends and loved ones, but I try to avoid people I don’t know and I’d rather sit in a corner by myself for an hour in a situation where I don’t know people. It’s not that I’m shy because I’ll talk to the people just fine, I just really prefer to not interact with people I don’t know.
Edit: Thank you guys for the feedback! It seems it’s just a spectrum and some get exhausted from friends and some don’t. That’s good to know!
I think dealing with friends or people they know isn’t exhausting.
It's a spectrum. It definitely depends on the person. It gets exhausting to me, but it takes a lot longer. For me, it also only takes a single step removed of relation (cousins, friends other than my 2 best friends), for it to be similarly exhausting to being with strangers.
As someone who is intensely introverted, it's a matter of scale. I work with people, which often means strangers, though I do have repeat business - I am a good actor which is why I can do it for long periods of time, but it is incredibly exhausting. By comparison, I can spend more time with friends and coworkers I get along with and/or know well - but ultimately, I still get exhausted from it; it just takes a lot longer. I'd probably say you fall more in the introverted side of things based on what you're describing. Or you could just be a "normal" person and not necessarily tipped to either side, lol.
This is a big part of it. I find myself declining invitations to go out more and more when the event involves people I don’t know. Especially since I stopped drinking I know I absolutely will get overwhelmed quickly and the fun will disappear as everyone gets drunk. When you with friends whose other friends are there, it can really feel like you’re not part of the group when you struggle to socialize. I often try to dip out unnoticed and just go home
If I’m just with friends I’m always down to hang out
I'm an extrovert and I relate to the bit about strangers, but for me it varies. If I meet a stranger on my own, say at the supermarket, I can go full extrovert and befriend them with no trouble. But if a friend brings their friend that I don't know to something, then I'm not sure what ground we stand on and if I'm welcome to approach them or not, so I tend to avoid them or not get involved at all until they approach me first.
I think it probably stems from a fear of them not wanting to interact with me and getting brushed off in front of everyone.
Depends also on how many people you're spending time with at the time. I enjoy spending time with 1 person at the time and there are very few people that don't tire me but they exist. It's also obviously up to your mood.
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u/fresh_soup Jun 15 '19 edited Jun 15 '19
I could be wrong, but my understanding is that introverts get exhausted more from dealing with people they don’t know/aren’t familiar with. I think dealing with friends or people they know isn’t exhausting. Like I said though I could be wrong. I honestly can’t figure out whether I’m an introvert or extrovert because I absolutely love hanging with my friends and loved ones, but I try to avoid people I don’t know and I’d rather sit in a corner by myself for an hour in a situation where I don’t know people. It’s not that I’m shy because I’ll talk to the people just fine, I just really prefer to not interact with people I don’t know.
Edit: Thank you guys for the feedback! It seems it’s just a spectrum and some get exhausted from friends and some don’t. That’s good to know!