Is it possible to change from being an extrovert to an introvert?
I remember when I was a kid, I was suupperr outgoing and had no shame in walking up to people to strike up a conversation. There weren’t too many moments where I was alone or even wanted to be alone.
Then one day, my family and I moved to a different country, which was the downfall of my “extroversion”. It was a lil awkward to go from knowing everyone and everyone knowing me, to me knowing no one and no one knowing me, but I still did my best. I went up to my classmates to become friends, only to get shot down. Still, my shame didn’t die down, it only made me annoyed at the kids around me.
We then moved to a different house. I had an easier time making friends, but had some weird experiences with people that slowly made me develop social anxiety and not like being around a lot of people all that much.
The year after that, we moved to a different city. My classmates became the cherry on top into completely developing anxiety and hating having any sort of attention upon me. This all started from trying to befriend the popular kids. It backfired and instead I became the target of bullying and teasing. It was after that experience did I think to myself…maybe being alone and invisible is the right way to go.
Finishing up middle school and getting into high school, I then started to love being alone, staying in my room as much as possible. I would feel discomfort from being in a crowded space and feel sooo drained after socializing with people for too long. I felt comfort with forming small friend groups of 2 maybe 3.
It’s been years since then. I stopped getting bullied since graduating from high school and never had bad experiences with people in college, but my introversion never died down. I could go on for years without going outside and talking to people, and I’d still be alright. Even during Covid, I never felt lonely.
I’m not sure if being an extrovert or introvert has anything to do with the psychology of a person and if it could get changed. Or is it trauma and not me being an introvert? I don’t know…
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I was a bit extroverted as a kid, more so in my teens but when Covid hit I became EXTREMELY introverted and anxious. It’s taken me ~5 years to revert back to being extroverted and it really only happened when I started working in food service talking with coworkers or customers for 8 hours a day.
Humans adapt to their environment to some extent and especially if your environment/lifestyle isn’t changing at the moment, it’s not surprising you’re still introverted. If that’s what you enjoy then that’s fine, though it doesn’t hurt to push yourself every once in a while and put yourself out there if you find something you’re interested in.
I felt like after going to college there’d be a chance it could get reverted, but nah. It was a course where there were a lot of teamwork. At least the part of wanting to stand in a corner and be invisible stopped, but if I was put into a crowd of people, I’d definitely would only think about going back home lol. And I’m not a masochist to willingly do customer service lmao, not with my anxiety and timid heart. One annoyed look from a customer would get me k.o’d lol.
Childhood experiences shape you a lot, but yes I would say trauma is the main reason. Probably under a good environment where you really feel safe and comfortable you may show more a more extrovert behavior but fundamentally youre an introvert now
Hmm ur probably right abt me being an introvert through and through, but I’ve always thought it was just something you were born being. It was until I looked back into my childhood did I realize what introvert would constantly walk up to neighbours to befriend them w/o feeling even slightly shy?