Extrovert-Introvert Hybrid.

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I am not sure if I am extrovert or introvert, or a hybrid of the both.

Around my friends or my Dad, I am extrovert, I ramble about my special interests and sometimes cannot stop talking. I've been told I don't recognise when they are not interested or bored, and I have inadvertently embarrassed or offended them without realising.

But around strangers, I either go mute, or have great trouble talking to them. I need a support worker to help me integrate when strangers are involved.

I have severe sensory problems which also hinder socialising for me.

I struggle socially tbh, because I find it pretty much impossible to read other people, and I am "socially awkward". As well as not recognising when to stop rambling (I struggle with that).

So what happens is that I socialise with a friend, and then I go home and get exhaustion so severe that I have to sleep the socialising off. Being with people is exhausting as my brain has to work on overtime. So I don't socialise much and isolate myself a lot. Texting is ok though.

Does anyone else go through this and can you offer advice to me on how to regulate socialising to minimise exhaustion?

I can relate to this. I find if I'm around people who don't make me uneasy, I can make a little bit of small talk. I've had to learn to do that, though. You have to act interested in the mundane things they say. You look at their noses or foreheads if you can't make eye contact. You say affirmative things back to them. If I actually want to be friends with someone, though, I usually take the plunge of 'being myself' because they have to know what I'm really like to be my friend.

I cannot do small talk at all. If a person says "the weather is bad today", I go straight into a monologue about weather systems and meteorology.

All people talk a lot even introverts. The more you know the more you talk. Introverts are just more selective and when in unfamiliar social situations they may be more prudent.

Thanks.