The think that if you are a patient in hospital, that it is the height of rudeness and intrusiveness to attampt to chit chat with your roommates

I'm an introvert who hates small talk but I think it'd be incredibly rude and quite weird to keep your eyes forward and not even acknowledge another person lying a few feet away.

OP your post made me laugh - you have every right not to engage but often the thing that gets people through a hospital visit is talking to other people on the Ward. I think you underestimate how lonely a large proportion of people are.

I work on a Medical Ward and during Covid we had lots of people on our Ward who did not want to go home, they loved the constant companionship of strangers c compared to the complete isolation at home- what a strange world we had created. People generally need people.

I recently had an outpatient procedure, and had to sit in the waiting room with several other ladies for about 3 hours.

We started off quiet, but eventually got chatting and had a real laugh. Was also nice to support each other, as lots of us were nervous about the procedure.

Yabu. Lighten up a bit and get chatting, you might even enjoy it.

Surely you can keep curtains closed? I've (touch wood) only been in once for a week (apart from having DCs) and in the first ward the woman next to me was clearly extremely unwell - coughing horrendously to the point of vomiting, all day long! I kept the curtain closed between us all the time!!

Turned out she had flu (no.....??) and the ward was closed down and none of us could have visitors or tests. I was later moved to another ward and put in an isolation room just in case I had caught flu - but luckily I hadn't. Thank goodness for curtains!!

But going back to OPs point - I agree that everyone is different. My DH is that weirdo who talks to people on trains.....😯!! If in hospital he would 100% chat all day long to anyone who would listen!

I'm a bit more selective - would be sociable if and when I felt like it - but other times would be reading or on my laptop and expect to be left alone. And if I was really actually unwell - talking would be the last thing I'd want.....

Horses for courses.

I’ve really appreciated people chatting to me while in hospital tbh, if I’d had enough chat I’d prob just shut my eyes to rest x

I was in hospital three times last week over a period of just over ten weeks, two longer stays of four weeks and a shorter stay of two weeks.

People talk to each other because there's little else to do. Some of our visitors talked to us and each other and, etc. Once you're on a ward you have to accept that there will be talking because it's part of the human condition. Yes, if you don't want to talk you close the curtains and/or put headphones on. I did that if I was having a particularly difficult time or needed a good cry. If there were people I didn't want to talk to I kept it to a minimum and because most people were in and out far more quickly than me I didn't get stuck with anyone too awful for too long. The only place I didn't talk to others was on ICU because I had a room of my own and mostly slept. I'm in a small WhatsApp group with three patients who I was on a ward with for about a week and we're all still a little bit in touch. One of the women was going to have the same surgery I'd had which she's since had and I was able to help her with how it would be, when she could get off her feeding tube, when she might eat more solid food, etc. I helped her and it helped me to be able to help. If we'd all sat around in silence that wouldn't have happened and we'd probably all have been miserable as sin.

Unless you can get yourself a private room I'm afraid that you have to accept that you're in the minority and just have to find a way to suck it up or just pull your curtains around you. You're not forced into interaction but you're being unreasonable if you expect it not to happen at all.

I've just read that the woman opposite was throwing questions at you after you said you were too sick to talk. Yeah, she's being inconsiderate and that's not fair on you.

People are not being rude they are being polite/friendly. If you don't want to talk you have every right to say so/pull your curtain closed but I have to say it's not what I've experienced.
My dad has had multiple hospital admissions he's not very extroverted but usually by time I go for first visit he knows everyones name, occupation etc. Last time he had been in 1 night when I visited him and another patient had already swapped books

I think you sound rude and unfriendly. In my experience, normal friendly chit chat is totally standard in hospital.
What I find intolerable is the noise from other patients' music, films etc. It's like they have never heard of earphones. I also found it distressing hearing elderly people with dementia crying, moaning and sometimes fighting off the staff. I know they couldn't help it, but it was heartbreaking to witness.

How very odd you are.

You are being rude and unfriendly. And how do you know you have nothing in common with people you won't even talk to?

Personally I don’t like to strike up a convo with strangers, but if they start talking to me I’ll engage. I seem to always attract the chatty types 😂

So you starve?

YANBU. I occasionally get rushed in if DH can’t manage my seizures. Probably happens once every 3 years or so. One time this woman wouldn’t stop trying to talk to me and it was awful. I had an agonising headache and, tbh, I was talking gibberish anyway after 7 seizures. I had to press the call button in the end to ask the nurse to shut my curtain so I could try and sleep.

It's boring in hospital, normal.people want to.chat. if you ate anti-docial, earplugs, eye mask or sign yourself out I'd you hate other humans so much

The last time I was in hospital there were four of us on the ward across two days and it was a nice balance of chat and silence. I value quiet and privacy but it was nice to break up the time by chatting a little.
As another poster said, we helped each other out and between us were able to provide one - who had nobody to visit and was clearly lonely, vulnerable and hadn't expected to stay in - with toiletries and something to read, as well as a spare nightshirt. It all felt a bit 'Dunkirk spirit' and definitely helped make a hospital stay less dull.

Being in hospital is a scary experience for many , and actually ime human contact helps
ive met and shared back and forth with others, in hospital and it totally helped normalise what isn’t normal tbh
sorry u find it hard , but people tend to chatter more when frightened and out of their comfort zone , try to be understanding at the same time just explain your need for you time .

I remember being the only young woman on a ward, I was 30 and all the other women were retired but most were around 75 plus. I was one of the few allowed out of bed and I loved chatting to them, they would call me over and make a fuss of me. It made it bearable. I’m almost 60 now so I doubt any are still alive, they were very sweet. I was engaged and they loved hearing about all my wedding plans, I was being investigated for something that could have meant I wasn’t going to make my own wedding, turned out thankfully it was something else.

I wouldn't chat early or late or when curtains are closed.

That was clear to me too.

If my response to all this 'friendly chat' is that I clearly don't want to involve myself then it's rude to continue to try and force your company onto a stranger who may be feeling anxious but doesn't want to engage.
The OP is having other people's rules forced on her.

that bit of info is important OP. If you feel nauseous then people should give you some rest.

Hope you get well soon OP

When your health is compromised and your in a hospital your not compelled to be sociable
If some of you find you can be sociable and engage that’s super however it isn’t mandatory and some people, are simple not comfortable with what is essentially forced chit chat with strangers. Nothing in common other than you’re all inpatient

I didn’t chatty chat on mat ward just because there were other mums and we had that in common. I popped on head phones and read my kindle. I had no desire to have forced engagement simply because we were in proximity to each other

OP I'm sorry you're unwell and hope you're feeling better soon.

I would probably want to chat, but can see that lots of people wouldn't.

It behoves us all in an environment like a hospital ward to be especially vigilant to cues about what people want and to not impose ourselves on others. I'm sorry your ward companions (just one?) were poor at this. I think being very blunt and clear about what you want them to do (stop talking to you) is the most effective way to handle someone who seems unable to go from the idea that you don't want to talk (whether hinted at or stated outright) to the idea that they shouldn't talk to you.

I had only one with my baby when she was 2 months old. Opposite us was a young couple with a toddler. She started talking to me and I engaged with her. It was worth it

my husband was in for major surgery and said he liked the camaraderie and occasional chit chat on the ward.

They weren’t allowed to close curtains as nurses wanted to be able to see when someone goes downhill

Actually agree with @user1471516498
Hospital is noisy,busy,hectic. It’s not a social centre you’re not compelled to make small talk or socialise with strangers when your health is compromised and you’re away from home