I get really exhausted being with people all the time, especially those who never stop talking

[Outdoorsie]

I would consider myself fairly introverted, although not shy. I'm well able to chat to people but like a lot of quiet time and feel drained if I've spent a lot of time with others and need to recharge alone. Myself and boyfriend have spent 6 days with friends of his, one of whom chats non-stop mostly about people I don't know and I just feel exhausted after it.

I'm beginning to feel there's something wrong with me and would love to know if anyone else is like this.

Oh you're really not on your own, you know! I'm exactly the same, always have been. Even as a kid, enjoying playing with friends in the street, after a couple of hours I'd just take myself inside to be on my own and read a book. I love my own company. I'm happiest with just one or 2 close friends on a night out. I would absolutely detest a big "girls' night out" or even worse, a hen night or weekend away. DH is similar really, although he's probably more socially confident than I am. He doesn't even like inviting his family round though, I'm always telling him to invvite them and he seems reluctant. There's nothing wrong with them, he just doesn't yearn for anyone else's company.

We have 2 teen boys and they seem similar. Never eager to go and meet up with friends although when they do they enjoy it. But they are happyt just chatting on Xbox!

There is absolutely no way I could spend 6 days with any of my own friends never mind DH's! If I did it would have to be someone similar to me, who liked toi spend quiet time on their own at times too.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with you! different courses for different horses. I find socialising and parties energising -dh finds them exhausting. He is like you and that’s fine. I try to limit any socialising I impose on him and he makes the effort to socialise on the odd occasion we have friends round or go away together.

You sound just like me. I'm happy to spend time with people and mostly comfortable chatting but I really do need alone time to recharge afterwards. It wasn't great when I was working 10 hour shifts in customer facing retail! I used to go upstairs for my lunch hour and sit in blessed silence, I'm not sure I could have gotten through the afternoons without it.

I don't mind seeing people or lots of chatter, but if there is a constant wall of sound from just one person who dominates the conversation I do find that exhausting! I don't know why one person can irritate me and a crowd doesn't.

Def not just you. Read quiet girl in a noisy world

I am so sociable and love hosting big gatherings, group holidays and days out. But I absolutely need some quiet time every day.

A group of us went on a hen do trip to Edinburgh many years ago now. A friend of the bride who I didn’t know well would just announce she was off, and would take herself off round the city for lunch or to her bedroom to read, for a good couple of hours every day. She was totally unapologetic about it too, just “I like you all but I need time to myself now, see you in a few”. We were quite young and I was super impressed with her self confidence. Learned a lot from her!

Wow, you've done well to last 6 days!!!
I'm exhausted after 2 hours lunch and chat in a pub with a friend!!

There's nothing I enjoy more than a good book. I've never been one to sit around chatting. Glad to hear I'm not alone!

Oh I completely get you OP! I feel exactly the same way sometimes!

I’m quite a quiet person, don’t get me wrong I like having company, but not excessive company if that makes sense.

I hate having people around me for too long and I also hate having too many people around me at once

I’m like this too. I used to work in customer facing roles and the constant talking that I had to do all day long had me mentally drained by the end of the day. I would get home and get into bed and it would take me ages to drop off because I felt like I still had all of these people’s voices swimming around in my brain and I couldn’t shut them up. It was exhausting. But I’ve lost even more tolerance for being around people since I stopped working there and now I can feel my brain shutting off after just a couple of hours with people, I just kind of go into my own head and shut everything out that’s going on around me. I’ve very often felt like there’s something wrong with me but I guess it’s just a normal part of being introverted really.

I'm exactly the same OP.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying your own company and needing time to recharge. Noisy/overly chatty environments leave me feeling mentally drained, I often need time by myself to recuperate afterwards.

I know exactly how you feel, I've found lockdown really hard because I havnt had any time to myself to recharge. I'm not shy and I'm happy to spend time with people and chat but I definitely need a few hours of silence to just gather my thoughts and what not.

DP does not get it at all, he thinks me going to the shops on my own without DC is time on my own --- it is, but I can't recharge and just be while I'm out and about

I havnt had my time or my house to myself since March, I am exhausted with it

I can't think of anyone I could cope with socialising non stop for 6 days with. It's not just you.

I’m similar OP. I love parties and meeting up with friends but I also love being alone. During lockdown I was with my toddler all day and then in the evening everybody wanted to FaceTime every night I had to say no eventually because I needed that time to recover from chatting and noise. Animals are wonderful (especially dogs) because they’re perfect company without draining my energy.

Urgh I can’t stand people like that. Often they’re just broadcasting rather than having a mutual conversation. The worst are those that expect periodic acknowledgement from you in the form of nods, smiles and “oh right” while they’re jabbering on. Utterly tedious.

Sounds like your boyf doesn't exhaust you so it's only some other people who exhaust you. I have a DC who never stops talking. He gets angry if I don't pay attention, which becomes difficult if I'm already tired or stressed out by trying to get urgent things done.

I reckon I'm just bad at multi-tasking, rather than being too introverted. It's not the worst weakness, so I can work with it.

DD has a new friend and her Mom is pleasant but just talks at me. I'm exhausted and bored after an hour or so, there's no conversation, just a monologue.

DH likes her as he doesn't have to worry about making conversation. Oddly he has always said I talk too much but I barely say anything compared to this woman. Perhaps it's because I expect him to participate and answer questions.