Not wanting to answer

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Of course, everyone has some bad moments when they simply are not in the mood to talk to someone. However...

You're talking with someone, and then you don't know what to say.
It's awkward/boring, so you'd prefer to just leave it at that and not reply. No "bye", no "ok, gotta go"... just, nothing.

Or you're being talked to, you KNOW a good answer, but you don't say it, because you feel weird about it, be it due to anxiety or just not wanting to open your mouth.

Can you relate?
Experiences?
Comments?

I study symbolic interactionism (nuances of social behavior), and autism. I've heard that the more you learn about symbolic interactionism the weirder you get. I think that's true.

Sometimes- no, OFTEN, I know the thing I'm supposed to say in response, but I just can't make myself do it. I'll either say nothing, or say something strange to probe them into saying something else that's more interesting.

(sigh)

Funny seeing this topic now, I've been thinking about this lately.
I do find that I sometimes can't get an answer out of myself, even when I know what to say. This will either be because I am overwhelmed or I simply don't want to open my mouth.

I'm interested in the thought process behind this, and some examples.
Would you mind to elaborate a little, please?

I think I can relate because sometimes when I feel tired or stressed and someone talks to me I sometimes feel like it's forced so then when I say something it might come out kind of awkward.

Yeah, sometimes I feel almost like the act of thinking the thought that would serve as my reply already purged that reply from my system, and I no longer feel inclined to go through the trouble to reach outside myself and make the mouth parts work in concert with the tongue and teeth and vocal cords etc to play the word-concert justu for the sole benefit of this one audience member who wouldn't even have the good graces to applaud when I'm finished, because they have no clue how much effort and coordination of senses and mind it actually takes to make speech happen. I often feel like I'm living down inside an oversized mascot body that is big and heavy and has a huge head with eyeholes that are far from my own eyes, and no earholes so stuff is muffled, and like it would just take too much effort to make it work - like if you had to be the actor inside Barney the dinosaur or Big Bird or something, you know?

Hard to describe.

Many times..

But
If I want to be alone, I prefer not to engage in such activities which require interaction with other in the first place.

Yes, sometimes just having the answer in my head is enough and I have no desire to share it It maybe because the conversation moved to fast or I just couldn't be arsed. Also sometimes I am the only audience I need for my thoughts.

YES all the time. I just don't feel like responding, don't have anything to say, or can't keep my mind on the conversation. It feels like watching someone on TV, as if I should be able to just push a button and make the person stop talking.




Sadly, no, my problem is I don't think of something to say until much later, or else I know what I want to say but I can't put it into words fast enough.

All the time. There are posts or texts or conversations I come across and if I really am not in the mood, feel too overwhelmed, may not know what to say, I will leave it for later to reply. May be days later sometimes. My friends understand this part of me, and eventually I will pick up the conversation where we left off.

Many, many, many times I'll want to not answer and simply walk away (not in anger or anything, but just stop the conversation and go), but my world is pretty small, overall. Practically anybody I am speaking to on any given day is somebody I'll be seeing/talking to again. And then there will be some huge rigmarole about why did I do that, was I angry, do I have some issue, blah blah blah that I don't want to have to engage in later.

Out of people I literally know I'll never have to speak to again, though - i.e., total strangers - if I don't want to engage I actually will just shrug and walk away. I might smile to soften the blow but I don't feel compelled to be forced to speak to some total stranger about nothing if I'm not in the mood to.

Sometimes I don't say the more NT-ish things on my mind just because I feel like there will be an expectation to maintain that level of NT-ishness later in the future.
My parents are fond of saying: "What's wrong with you?! You were just FINE before. Stop being a willful entitled brat and act the way you were acting before. You did it once do it again!! !" usually very angrily and at a high volume that makes my ears hurt.
Just because I figured out one social nuance or turn of phrase or movement doesn't mean I can repeat it perfectly each time or when I'm at my sensory overload limit.
However, NTs are impossible about this- all they see is one time you did it "normally" or "right" and now you're not- I don't know why and it's annoying/inconvenient when you are "being weird".

Actually about 80% of the reason why I don't say anything in social interactions is because I don't want the weight of future expectations AND well what if what I say goes over poorly- BETTER NOT RISK IT!
So, oftentimes I choose inaction......

Hahaha! Yes, this exactly!!

There are times when answering verbally feels like a huge exertion, times when speech doesn't even occur to me, and times when I completely tune people out when focusing on something else.

Then there are times that people keep constantly trying to engage me. It becomes an assault on my senses, so if I can't leave I tell them STFU in so many words.

Well that pretty much perfectly describes what I experience.

I looked up STFU for non English native speakers like me.

STFU

1.(Internet, vulgar) Shut the f**k up; emphatic and vulgar form of shut up.
2.(US, historical) Southern Tenant Farmers Union.

I guess MjrMajorMajor meant the second one.