Are you a homebody?

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I sort of dont think I am. I never settle very well while at home and I sort of feel stir crazy if I stay there for too long. I end up not doing the things I should do and I end up doing bad things like binge eating. I find it hard to stay in bed for too long in the morning as I am jolted awake by morning noises such as the dog etc. I am not good at napping. If I lie down to nap I often end up just lying there with my eyes open.

I like being out and feel much better if I go out somewhere in my car, the supermarket, or a park, or even just a drive, as long as I am out somewhere. I think I have always been like this, restless. Am I odd? Or, odd for someone on the spectrum? It is confusing because people on the spectrum are supposed to be focused. I can focus on my interests but I can only spend so long on them before I need to be out somewhere.

Focused I'm not,homebody I am. I feel guilty for staying inside on a beautiful weekend but I often do, only leaving to go to the mailbox.

^ Yeah. I have done similar. I sort of feel happier overall when I am out, but more bored, but if I stay in and focus on my interests I feel more stimulated and excited, but overall very restless and actually a bit overstimulated a lot of the time.

I very much am a homebody. I do not like to go out and do things. I prefer the calm in my house. "Don't make me go" could be my catch phrase. As for being focused... I am only when it comes to things I want to do. I do not focus well otherwise. Were it not for my lists, I would not finish any of the things I start... even then I still only see half of my tasks through to the end. I am working on this...

What, exactly, is the difference between "homebody" and "agoraphobic"?

"Homebody" is a colloquial term for someone who chooses to stay at home rather than go out. An "Agoraphobic" is someone who has an irrational fear of public places or leaving his/her home.

I think a homebody is someone who has the fuzzy slippers and dvds and video games, or loves to cook, or do some hobby at home... just loves the home atmosphere. I know quite a few people like this including NTs...

Right.. but there's a fine line there.. especially if said person is an aspie with obsessions so they can't think about anything else. And what if the fear of public places is rational? What if you want to be at home because it's so uncomfortable to be around other people, because they always hate you and make you wish you'd never left the house?
Is the line just the intensity?
Or whether or not it bothers you to not want to leave the house?

Yep. I spend most of my time at home, because I like it here. I have no fear or particular dislike of going out, but I am very comfortable in my home. I'm not really sure where I would go or what I would do if I went out, which would be better than being at home. There are exceptions. If something special is planned, like a trip to a cool museum or the Lego Store, or going out for ice-cream, then I like that just fine. But I don't go stir crazy and need to get out. Ever.

I don't think it's an aspie thing. I think it's a Sun in Cancer and Cancer Rising thing.

I love staying at home, but if there are prolonged periods of time when I go out a lot, it then takes me a while to settle into the home atmosphere. I would still be engaged in my special interest, but would feel a need to go out when doing things related to my special interest (reading in the park, buying more stuff to add to my collections). Once I settle at home, on the contrary, I don't feel like going out anymore.

I have kind of a theory about agoraphobia. I think maybe it's not a physical reaction to a psychological problem but the reverse. Suppose someone goes to the grocery store and suffers a panic attack, then that person might associate the grocery store with those feelings of losing control. Those panic attacks might become more frequent and the number of places the person has developed a fear for might increase until the person is confined to their home. Or maybe, not. My mother has a friend who has mild agoraphobia and when she's out she feels like she needs to stay close to buildings because she feels an unbalanced feeling out in the open.

I spend a lot of time inside. Even though I love the outside. I can easily go a week without being outside more than a few minutes.

I am a homebody, sometimes I think I would be happy never to leave the house or the lines of the yard. But it has sometimes bled into agoraphobia. I've never understood why people travel on vacation to far off places. It's so relaxing just being at home!

I guess I could consider myself a homebody. Providing I don't have an argument with my parents, then I feel quite comfortable at home. I don't need to travel to the city during the holidays unless I have a planned place to visit, like the State Library, Art Gallery or Uni etc.

I could easily sit right here day after day and never leave the house if my circumstances would allow it even though I do occasionally enjoy going on an "adventure" of one kind or another -- I have an old school bus I call my "poor man's motor home" -- as long as leaving here has a specific purpose and is well-planned, including knowing precisely when I can expect be back. It is not so much that I have any particular phobia about going anywhere, but there are places I definitely do *not* like to go and I know there is much less chance of anything unexpected coming up, taking place or going on or down here at home. So yes, I guess that kind of makes me a stuck-in-the-mud homebody!

Maybe that is one of the things. I have either lived with my parents or in overcrowded hostels. Both I found stressful. In many ways I associate being at home with stress.