Ten Misconceptions About Introverts
Being an introvert isn’t an illness. It’s not contagious. I promise.
I was out recently and I mentioned that I was somewhat of an introvert (I am), to which they replied “Oh, that’s too bad.” I said “Why? It’s not an illness.”
Being an introvert is NOT an illness. Here are some other silly misconceptions about introverts:
We’re rude — we’re not rude. We’re usually just thinking . . . about something or about nothing. Ask, we’ll answer . . . without biting your head off. I promise.
We’re shy — we’re not shy. We’re just not likely to run into a room and scream “LOOK AT ME!”
We’re anti-social — we’re not anti-social. We’re just more likely to find energy and comfort from being alone whereas an extrovert might find energy from being around other people. And introverts also find socializing to be a little draining. It doesn’t mean we don’t like it or that we hate people. It’s just a little draining. Nothing more. Nothing less.
We’re angry — we’re not angry. Well, not usually. We just may look a little pissed off because we’re thinking about something else (which may in fact be pissing us off). As a rule of thumb though, introverts are not angry people.
We’re tough to read — we’re not that tough to read. If we are hanging out with you, you can feel pretty confident that we enjoy your company. No introvert I know spends any spare time with people they don’t really enjoy, unless they have to.
We’re aloof — we’re not aloof. We’re not loners. We like people but quite often we just don’t need people in the same way that an extrovert may. Of course, we need people, we need connection. Introverts just need it a little differently. But no, we’re not aloof.
We’re not keen on small talk — we’re not vehemently opposed to small talk but we’ll probably try and get out of it pretty quickly.
We’re not going to go to a party — we will definitely go to a party but rest assured the first thing we’ll look for is the best point of egress. We’re also not going to a party to meet people, we’re going to go and probably talk to the same folks we always talk to. But we’ll go to a party for sure.
We’re intense — we’re not that intense. But if you want to have a chat about last nights episode of The Big Bang Theory, you’re likely to experience a one way conversation. A discussion about string theory may yield an actual conversation.
We’re depressed — we’re not depressed (well, not as a rule anyway), we’re just quiet. “Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt” might be an introverts general philosophy. That doesn’t mean they’re depressed.
While this is hardly a comprehensive list of misconceptions about introverts, it’s a good place to start.