I am a super introvert. It never occurs to me to NEED to socialise. I have a DH, DC and good relationship with family. But I have noticed that too much wfh and not enough human interaction has really affected my mental health and made me hyper self-obssessed/inward looking.
@Notthatbusy I could have written this. Also an introvert and very happy with my own company, but the past two years have reduced contact with friends and acquaintances so much that I now feel really quite lonely. I changed jobs recently and hoped that might help, meeting new team members - but we mostly wfh and a lot of them live quite far away, so socialising is unlikely.
I do have one really good friend, and some local mum friends/acquaintances but we've fallen out of the habit of meeting up, mainly because of the pandemic I think. I often wish I had a best friend, or a small group of close friends I can confide in, trust to provide perspective on issues or a shoulder to cry on, enjoy a drink/day out together. I feel envious of people who have found their people, their best friends to experience this sort of thing together. I have DH, family members I can talk to I suppose but I actually rarely confide in them, there doesn't seem to be the opportunity for deep and meaningful chats in our usual meetings or interactions. So I'm currently finding so many thoughts, ideas, fears, worries bouncing around in my head that it's driving me a bit mad, I know it's not healthy.
OP to answer your question I don't hide it - but then no-one asks, and I have no-one to share it with, which is the whole problem!