Social Tolerance

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I have always believed that as Aspies, we each have a social tolerance limit beyond which we begin to feel very uncomfortable. Once that point is reached, we need to be alone in order to recover enough to be able to deal with people again. Think of it as being like a Borg drone in need of regeneration. My own limit is roughly 2 hours under good conditions but much less in the presence of large groups of people or people who are especially outgoing and overbearing. I am curious to see what other Aspies experience. I have no idea what kind of time range to use for this poll but think the above options should give plenty of leeway.

After my NA meetings, people go outside to chat and smoke. I join them but not to smoke. I'm hoping to make a friend there. I have two problems though. 1. I find small talk difficult so I often just stand there silently while others speak. 2. My social tolerance is not that high. After about 15 minutes I'm ready to bounce. It's gonna be real hard, in other words, for me to make friends.

I wouldn't know what to answer, since it actually varies from less than five minutes to maybe 10 hours tops, depending on the company.

Generally speaking, when hanging out with a friend or two in a "neutral" setting like outdoors at a park or something, after an hour or two I'm pretty much ready to have some alone time. I get to a point where I start to become much quieter and go "inward", start "spacing out" a lot more, and feel tired/drained.

Mine varies widely depending on the situation but in most cases it is less than five minutes. And then I start feeling very antsy and irritated and wanting to get away from them.

It depends on so many things. If I am already stressed out, who I am being social with (one person or multiple, friends, family or co-workers) and in what setting.

Right now I have a tolerance of about less than 5 minutes. But I can tolerate hours usually.

I would say that under good conditions it's 1-2 hours. If it's a really good day then maybe 2-4. However, it's normally less than an hour. I usually get tired of being around people pretty quickly. In fact, I had to avoid going to my cousin's house for a mother's day brunch this morning because I just couldn't bring myself to be around people.

Voted 2-4 hours but that's under ideal conditions (its with friends, about something I like, I was in a decent mood before, I'm not stressed out with a bunch of things I have to do, etc). Normally, its less than that

Depends entirely on who it is for me.

I tend to develop 'massive likings' of particular people at times before they even talk to me. These likings are independent of their appearance and to a degree their personality. If I don't have a 'massive liking' for a person, then it is very unlikely that I'll be able to tolerate social interaction for more than 5-10 minutes. I don't know what causes the 'likings', it's incredibly hard for me to describe. It is almost as if I fall in love with a person for no reason.

_________________
Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk

It really depends. But when faced with a group consisting of numerous people I don't know, it is not uncommon for me to immeadiately want to leave. I had a situation like this last week at my baby nieces birthday. a few of my sister's friends, that I really don't know too personally came over unexpectedly ( could have had some warning) and my parent's place is small. Needless to say, I felt pretty uncomfortable until they left.

I can cope with maybe 2-3.
After that I'm usually desperate to go home and potter.

It's it's people I don't really know how to talk to, then less than 10 mins.

Depends on who I am talking to. I already made people classifications depending on how confortable I feel around them and I kept track of the time so I have all this information. But this post would be too long so generally speaking:
- one to one conversation with someone I don't know or that makes me uncomfortable: 5 minutes
- one to one conversation with friend or nice acquaintance (I have to participate all the time): 20 minutes
- with two or three others (I can space out while they talk): 2 hours
- with more than three (group): I don't participate, go mute
- with two others I don't know: mute
- some other place rather than home but where I can have some alone time like in the bathroom: 6 hours
I find it really unbelievable I am the only aspie that doesn't prefer one-to-one conversations. I am not talking about groups but with one more other you don't have to talk all the time, you can space out, you can let them make the conversation flow, you can mimic the others reaction when you don't know what to do, no awkward silences, etc much better!
so generally speaking, one to one conversation, with friend or nice person, in average setting, 20 minutes before desperately wanting to be left alone. I am very surprise there are as pies that can stand hours! One to one is so tiring, you have to smile and make expressions and your face hurts, and you have to interpret what the person is saying and is doing with body and think what you should say... Crazy

With people I don't know it's less than 5 minutes. With people I know a couple of hours. If I'm drunk, or stoned, I can last much longer.

I answered 2-4, but it varies a lot. Alot of the time, I actually want to make it short. When I am happy and social I may take 3 hours before I space out and lose track. Some days 3o min is too much. Like most people, I guess.