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

Don't be silly OP! It's not 'the height of rudeness' to speak to people in hospital ffs! I'm as introvert and unsociable as they come, but I wouldn't feel offended if someone spoke to me from a hospital bed! Jesus, what's the world coming to when you're offended at small talk!

Obviously you don't need to chat back, and can say so.,,you do you and all that! But it's really not difficult to understand that we are all different, and that 'small talk' isn't actually 'the height of rudeness' 🤦‍♀️

I agree about noise nuisance. After having DS2 I was shocked that everyone had a TV above their bed, could play it whenever they pleased, spoke at the top of their voices etc. But that’s not the same as people wanting to share a convo with you.

Yabu
Why would you assume no one wants to talk on a hospital ward. If you don't want to talk that's absolutely fine,.keep your headphones in, curtain closed. If they talk to you keep answers short and they will soon give up. Of course it's not rude though to talk to other people 🤣... And I consider myself an introvert.

You are the odd one out, my husband is a surgeon and reassuing confirmed many find comfort in talking to each other. Not everyone is in agony. The curtains aren't there for you to hide away behind, staff will want them open which I'm sure with your expansive stays you would know and understand what they are there for.

YABU. You are particularly unfriendly, by the sounds of it. It's fine not to want to speak to people because you are ill or just introverted. Creating some reason to frame it as rude for people to just pass the time of day with others on the ward is just unpleasant. This is a you thing.

I'm sure you communicate your feelings with utter clarity so I doubt people will inconvenience you for long with pesky human contact.

I was in for four days and definitely was not feeling communicative! I just felt awful and had no interest in other people's ailments. The headphones went on and stayed on regardless of whether I was watching something on my iPad or just reading and the curtains were closed as much as possible. I really didn't care if I was regarded as anti-social.

Actually I chat with colleagues all day at work and have lots of friends!

But I find the idea of being at the mercy of ill health in a strange and uncontrollable environment, horrifying. So the smaller and quieter I can stay, the easier and faster the process will end.

I am not an anxious person as a rule but being in hospital changes me into a different woman. I just curl up into a ball and try to disappear.

I don't think it is the height of rudeness but if you don't want to talk that is your choice but don't call other people rude for being friendly. I'm guessing the others are thinking you are the rude one

the nurses said they liked coming into our little ward because it was warm, welcoming, and we included them in the chatter/jokes we had going on.

think we even had one of the orderlies popping in more than strictly necessary because he came into fix a TV and we managed to find something to rib him about which came up every time he popped into check on it.

During the day it's fine. But last time I was in the girl next to me spoke on the phone ALL night long to her boyfriend. I was in pain and desperately needed to sleep but she was still harping on at gone 4am. I wished the nurses would say something to her but they didn't.
I'm normally the type to say something myself but she was around 17/18 on her own in hospital so I thought she must be scared so I left it. But it was very annoying though.

YABU.
You don't want to make conversation with people and that's fair enough. In which case you put your earphones in, avoid making contact and whatever strategies you employ not to talk to people.
But you don't get to impose that rule on other people by saying "I have always thought that it was polite to...."

In all of my many hospital stays, I have never been rude enough to intrude on others, but the two women in my bay are just being insufferable! Is it just me, or is this just downright rude?
Maybe reflect on how they might see it from their perspective. It's possible that they find you insufferable and rude too because you're ignoring them. You're not coming across well at all but I suspect it's probably because you're fed up to the back teeth with being in hospital on a regular basis.

If you really don't want to talk to any of them close your curtains, put your headphones on, you could even say that you're really not doing very well at the moment and you're not up to chatting.

I find this post sad. We are getting increasingly isolated as individuals in society, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for casual exchange, and OP is put out because some people have the audacity to make conversation in a situation where everyone is sharing a common ( and stressful) experience.

YABU. It's ok if you feel that way, but a lot of people find hospital stays unbearably lonely and boring. Not being allowed to talk to your fellow roommates would make that even worse. It's not rude or intrusive to talk to fellow patients, you just personally don't like it.

As a HCP we all love chatting to patients (obviously within reason!). I hate it when people can’t make small talk or barely give you an answer to a question. It’s awfully rude.

Being able to build a rapport with patients is very helpful in their care - it makes life far more difficult if someone refuses to engage. Trust me, refusing to chat doesn’t make you ‘small and convenient’.

This type of attitude - that other people are nothing more than a nuisance and an inconvenience- is what is fuelling the mental health crisis. People are becoming isolated, lonely and depressed and they don’t even know why. We need human interaction.

I dunno, I've found most people in hospital like a natter,

I had to stay in for 5 days last year in a room with 3 other women. They were all eldery ( I'm early 30's ) and they were all so lovely to me. I didnt mind chatting but we all had frequent naps so maybe that helped 😅

I agree. Especially if it's chatting loudly across beds/waiting rooms/treatment chairs. I can see why others wouldn't mind it, but like you I need to spend lots of time in hospital settings and can often be found wearing my earphones with nothing playing to avoid chit chat, OR with something on really loudly in my ears to drown out the verbal diarrhoea.

It sounds cranky AF but for me it's the equivalent of loud parenting. Loud patienting. We don't all need to know your shit.

At first I thought you were being ironic.. but no.. you sound like...fun

These people hear your farts, snoring, coughing and whatever other bodily functions come to the surface during your sleep.

Chitchat seems a lesser offense to me😂

Seriously, just say I really don’t feel up to talking and let them get on with their conversations.

Dunno the last time I was in hospital there was someone in the next bed with tourettes, I thought it was hilarious & so did they - the old ladies on the ward didn't laugh though.

Currently making frequent visits to a relative in hospital. Everyone is chatty. They all look out for each other. If my relative is sleeping when I arrive, another patient (or their visitors) will update me on how things are - they had a fall / they've lost their watch etc. And the other patients tell me how they are doing too.

Today was my relative's birthday, 2 of the other patients/vistors bought them a card and chocolates.

It's only been 2 weeks but it feels like a wee community. It is Glasgow though... (

Yet another post where a first time poster starts a goady thread and then disappears. So tedious.

I just finished reading David Holmes’s autobiography “The Boy Who Lived” and he talks about the friendships he made with other patients in the hospital.