I am an introvert. I hate being in crowded places. I hate noisy places. To loud or high pitch noises literally hurts my ears. Like when my daughter hums. I literally cringe, as it causes me pain to hear. I am not good in social settings. I am told I am too quiet or am stuck up because I won’t talk. But would rather sit back and watch everyone instead. Much of that has to do with my hearing issues.
Susan, there are some people who fall pretty much in the middle (ambiverts.) But Susan Cain also talks a lot about people who are introverted and who have been taught to act like extroverts. I guess the best test for that is not so much how you behave, but rather how you feel and think.
A true ambivert would sometimes find it energizing to be with others, to be in loud places, to engage in highly competitive activities, etc. The ambivert would also sometimes find comparison with an external standard or receiving positive feedback from others to be as important as (or more important than) any internal sense of “rightness.”
I’m not sure whether that link has been studied, Deb. I Googled “introversion depression anxiety” and wasn’t able to find anything scholarly. It would be interesting to see someone look into rates of depression and panic or anxiety disorders in extroverts vs introverts.
On the one hand, it could be we’d see lower levels of both types of disorder in introverts because we can function well with lower levels of dopamine. But that could also work against us if we end up functioning with less dopamine than is necessary to prevent depression. A similar question would come up with acetylcholine: if we’re more sensitive to it, does that mean we could experience symptoms of anxiety or depression at much lower levels than for extroverts?
Great line of questioning! I hope you’ll be able to suggest research in this area to someone who would be interested in following up on it.
I think I am an introvert. I enjoy quite evenings at home rather than go to a crowded party. Excellent article about a confusing topic.
I am an introvert. I hate being in crowded places. I hate noisy places. To loud or high pitch noises literally hurts my ears. Like when my daughter hums. I literally cringe, as it causes me pain to hear. I am not good in social settings. I am told I am too quiet or am stuck up because I won’t talk. But would rather sit back and watch everyone instead. Much of that has to do with my hearing issues.
It sounds like you have some sensory issues in there, too. But what you’re describing definitely sounds introverted.
Susan, there are some people who fall pretty much in the middle (ambiverts.) But Susan Cain also talks a lot about people who are introverted and who have been taught to act like extroverts. I guess the best test for that is not so much how you behave, but rather how you feel and think.
A true ambivert would sometimes find it energizing to be with others, to be in loud places, to engage in highly competitive activities, etc. The ambivert would also sometimes find comparison with an external standard or receiving positive feedback from others to be as important as (or more important than) any internal sense of “rightness.”
I’m not sure whether that link has been studied, Deb. I Googled “introversion depression anxiety” and wasn’t able to find anything scholarly. It would be interesting to see someone look into rates of depression and panic or anxiety disorders in extroverts vs introverts.
On the one hand, it could be we’d see lower levels of both types of disorder in introverts because we can function well with lower levels of dopamine. But that could also work against us if we end up functioning with less dopamine than is necessary to prevent depression. A similar question would come up with acetylcholine: if we’re more sensitive to it, does that mean we could experience symptoms of anxiety or depression at much lower levels than for extroverts?
Great line of questioning! I hope you’ll be able to suggest research in this area to someone who would be interested in following up on it.