...

[_wt]

I can usually last an entire day, but will need to recharge on my own the next. Without needing to recharge, though, I'd say about 8 to 10 hours? This is the usual amount I need to travel, attend uni, travel home, and work after.

During holidays, though, I can somehow last up to two days without needing time on my own aside from when sleeping. Always fun.

[GuzziHero]

Approximately 4 minutes and 17 seconds.

All my friends know that I lose interest in socialising very quickly.  Thats why all my hobbies are either solitary or involve short bursts of socialising followed by long periods of doing my own thing.  I hate to say it but I have very little interest in people, and very little tolerance for those who I don't share some sort of common interest with.

Same with family, I have a HUGE family on my dads side (Lithuanian RC+ ancestry, they bred like rabbits) but I wouldn't recognise any but 3 or 4 of them if I met them in the street.  I only have contact with my sister, and thats as sparingly as possible.

[Guest]

I'm most comfortable in quiet, laid back atmospheres. Sudden, loud noises always unnerve me.

 

I'm ok being out in crowds or large gatherings. If I'm just sitting off to the side observing, then I'm fine. If there's enough people around, your essentially alone in a way. It's only when I'm dragged into the maelstrom that I become overwhelmed. 

 

For example, I was a groomsman at a friends wedding earlier this year. At the reception I was sitting at a table watching everyone else mingle and interact. I was content to just sit back and observe. I was actually having fun in my own introverted way. It was only when a few people starting pestering me about getting onto the dance floor that I started to become uncomfortable. After that, I couldn't wait to leave and be alone. They probably thought I was bored or something; damn extroverts.

 

 

[Blaiddmelyn]

About 2-3 days. It depends.

[Ldlelee]

When I'm at work, it's not so bad. I spend the majority of my day interacting with people, so it's gotten to the point that I don't feel the energy drain until I've gotten in my car and am heading home. (My break helps with this, of course; it's the shorter days where I don't get one that are pure hell.) When I'm at home, I spend a lot of time in my room, so I'm not sure how long I can last. When I'm out on my own, I can handle a few hours, but I try to get home as soon as possible. Parties and sleepovers are my worst nightmare. I hate them. I can stop for an hour and say hello, maybe eat something, and then I need to GTFO.

[eyeris]

I feel this. I need an hour to myself every day. Sometimes, in work situations, that's not possible, and then I grind to a halt (stop communicating except for bare minimum pleasantries and standard politeness). For example, I recently had to attend a two-day workshop and share a hotel room with a colleague to save money. Even though the people at the workshop, including my hotel roomie, were all super friendly, smart, and full of good humor, I pretty much shut down the second day after having zero alone time since the thing began. I didn't contribute much to any discussions or activities on the second day, and I feel badly about that. I think I was actually daydreaming as a coping mechanism of escape. One person asked me if I was overwhelmed, and I thought, "Crap, it's obvious." I was socially overwhelmed. I could keep up intellectually, but the people-ing is where I really need breaks in order to keep up. Introversion is real, and we do the best we can.

[Polygon]

I don't know if there's any hard limit. If it's good friends, I could probably last a while in their company - I don't know if there'd even be a limit. But if I'm with people I'm neutral towards, or if I feel like the odd one out? That'd be a lot harder. 

 

There are a lot of factors, I guess. What are we doing, where are we spending time, who all is coming, that kind of stuff. A chill, quiet hike up a mountain is going to be a different experience compared to a loud party in a cramped house. I don't think introversion inherently implies a static limit. 

[arowace]

depends on the person. With my brother I can hang out for most of the day as long as we keep it kinda quiet and stuff! If it's literally anyone else I become exhausted about 4 hours in no matter how quiet and unresponsive I try to be. This makes doing things and hanging out with people very difficult. I usually spend a long time alone in restrooms when I'm out.

 

If I'm in the company of someone for over 24 hours I practically die mentally no matter who it is. 

[Blomdor]

As others have noted, this depends greatly on the setting and the crowd.

 

If I'm faced with interacting socially with strangers or people I am not very well acquainted with beyond greetings, my mind shuts down almost completely. I have never figured out how to really function beyond a very basic capacity in that situation. I can greet people, express gratitude, say goodbyes, and that is just about all I know how to do. Anything much beyond what is necessary for communicating with a cashier on the way out of a grocery store is alien to me and will rapidly stress me out.

 

If I and a person or group of people know each other well, and we physically interact with some regularity (which is essentially limited to close relatives), then my brain does not interpret the situation as a strange and worryingly unfamiliar one, and therefore doesn't short-circuit to such a degree. In that case, it depends on how long we interact with each other, how loud and socially demanding they tend to be, how many people are simultaneously present, and my overall mental state. My brother, for instance, is about as quiet and reserved as I am, and we don't find our company to be taxing at all, really. When we want to be alone, we understand each other perfectly well. On the other hand, if the person in question is extremely loud, extroverted, and wants to interact with me for a prolonged amount of time, I'll start to feel the strain within a few minutes honestly and eventually will have to excuse myself when my brain starts shutting down. And I cannot process more than one person talking to me at a time at all; it fries my brain instantly and makes me want to run away screaming.

[Guest]

I would say the biggest determinant for me is how I'm feeling. If I'm stressed/anxious/sad, then I have difficulty with any interaction and it does not matter where I am or who I'm talking to. I tend to avoid social interaction when I am feeling any combination of those three, though of course there are still things I have to do like go to work, go to the store, pick up dinner, etc. If I am having a good day then I can talk with practically anyone effortlessly and for however long.

[Goonie]

it depends on the day and what the activities are. There are some days I can go full force with people before my batteries are completely drained. Some times there are times where I can only do a few minutes before needing to go be far away from everyone. It depends on the situation and how I'm doing mentally

[Member131995]

My limit is very low. I can count on one hand how many people I can stand being around one on one for longer than 10-20 minutes. I can handle any social gathering or event (funeral, wedding, party, etc) for not much more than an hour. I hate going shopping or to crowded restaurants or in the public anywhere for any length of time. I can survive a work shift for up to 12 hours but that's mostly because I work with one nurse and at most two other CNAs. And we don't sit in each others presence all the time, so it's tolerable.

[Guest]

I can handle a few hours (like a meetup) with other introverts well enough. Especially when of the same mindset. They just give off this same energy that is comfortable to be around. And they're not too noisy... Nice and quiet.   

 

Fully equipped (read people) bars are hell to me, they drain me in 30 minutes flat. I will get anxious, physically ill so to say, and I will need to get out there really quick. If I would stay for like 2 hours in there. It feels like I will explode and burst into tears. There's just too much coming in, so many sorts of energies and vibes. It's confusing.. I can't filter this out. And then the people I'm with are like, "You shouldn't be so <insert whatever> here, just participate!"... No, I can't... I can only shutdown to protect myself from all of this. 

 

I shop late night, yeah, possibly close to closing time for the shop, I'll miss out often on fresh baked bread... But I'd rather keep my energy. Because I want to do more stuff on that day. Or I would just come in with my headset and listen to some Secret Garden or other music that is really relaxing. This way I can shut out the people around.  

 

I'll keep my blinds down to ward off the sun mostly of the day. Because another source of drain. 2-3 hours of it on a sunny day. And I'll be ready to hit the sack and nap for 2 hours  

 

Sure, these are limits, I can go past them when rested enough before. But after it. I'll need 1-2 days maybe more to rest up from just that day.... Imagine a theme park. :S. I like them, but poof, no energy left.

 

One on One's are fine. Are great actually, because I can then really focus on the conversation. :D. Oh and if we can talk for hours long. Yes, you are then very special  

[Lemonsky]

It depends a lot on the situation but I've felt like a week of spending time with a friend in the same room gets quite emotionally exhausting. If I have to spend multiple days in the same place with a person I get exhausted quicker, but I can take socializing a lot better if I can at least relax in my own tranquility in the evening.

[Kimmie.]

1 hour ago, Phoenix the II said:

I can handle a few hours (like a meetup) with other introverts well enough. Especially when of the same mindset. They just give off this same energy that is comfortable to be around. And they're not too noisy... Nice and quiet.   

 

Fully equipped (read people) bars are hell to me, they drain me in 30 minutes flat. I will get anxious, physically ill so to say, and I will need to get out there really quick. If I would stay for like 2 hours in there. It feels like I will explode and burst into tears. There's just too much coming in, so many sorts of energies and vibes. It's confusing.. I can't filter this out. And then the people I'm with are like, "You shouldn't be so <insert whatever> here, just participate!"... No, I can't... I can only shutdown to protect myself from all of this. 

That is me.

[Ms. Carolynne]

I can stand a few close friends for several hours. It doesn't really drain me much either, I just need some alone time. Family is much the same. 

 

Two things that do stress me out are crowds and strangers. I do well enough if they leave me be, especially if I have a group I'm already with, but it's still draining. I can get through a concert but that will drain me. Work can be a drain, but it's usually minimal interaction so I can handle it.

 

I cannot stand conversing with a total stranger. It also bugs me if I feel someone is paying attention to or otherwise noticing me. These situations I want out ASAP.

 

I am also terrible with small talk, and stupid questions. I'm very much a person who doesn't want to talk if the conversation is in no way important or interesting. I need something at least somewhat substantial. I also don't want to play 20 questions. This kind of conversation wears me down quickly, in a matter of minutes.

[daveb]

8 hours ago, Phoenix the II said:

I'll keep my blinds down to ward off the sun mostly of the day. Because another source of drain.

I rarely open my blinds (unless it's overcast or cloudy out), especially in the Summer. I know many people like to let the sunshine in. But I'm not one of them.  

[Semiterrestrial Scientist]

I have limits but my mom is a very sunshiney person so they’re always being pushed past

[Spotastic]

On 8/2/2018 at 7:20 PM, GuzziHero said:

Approximately 4 minutes and 17 seconds.

All my friends know that I lose interest in socialising very quickly.  Thats why all my hobbies are either solitary or involve short bursts of socialising followed by long periods of doing my own thing.  I hate to say it but I have very little interest in people, and very little tolerance for those who I don't share some sort of common interest with.

Same with family, I have a HUGE family on my dads side (Lithuanian RC+ ancestry, they bred like rabbits) but I wouldn't recognise any but 3 or 4 of them if I met them in the street.  I only have contact with my sister, and thats as sparingly as possible.

I'm the same way, even down to having a huge family (Puertorican on one side and mixed European on the other). My grandfather on my dad's side (PR) had 37 children, "only" 15 of which were with my grandmother, and all of which were while he was married to her. My grandmother on my mom's side had 15 kids from 4 or 5 different men. And I'm the asexual one...

 

I live with 6 other people, and so I spend a lot of time in my room. My wife keeps trying to get me to spend more time outside the room, but it quickly becomes my default again after I get out in the rest of the house for a week, at best.

[Haze.]

On a good day, 2-3 hours before I need to withdraw. The longer I'm forced to stay in the room with the people though, the longer my recuperation period takes. After school I usually take 3-4 hours of shutting myself in my room alone to recuperate.

 

Sometimes I am really anxious or just dissociative, and my toleration time is a lot shorter than that. I can never last 2-3 hours at normal parties (more than 8 people in attendance) because my anxiety level is so high.

 

If sensory input is too high, I can NOT handle a conversation at all. It drains me almost instantly.

 

Something to take into consideration in all social situations with me is my autism though, so idk if my experience is the same as a neurotypical introvert's.

[DuskFire]

I usually get tired quicker if there's more people and no place to sit in the dark. Probably on average 2 hours or so. 

I'm usually fine in conversation as long as the topic interests me, if it doesn't and I can't go on about it myself then I try to just not and quickly get through said conversation so I can go sit alone.

 

Lt.Reginald Barclay summed it up nice

 

"I am the guy.....when he finally gets there{party or social gathering}, he winds up alone, in the corner, trying to look comfortable examining a potted plant."

 

I simply prefer to be alone at most gatherings. I guess cause they don't interest me. I'd much rather be with just one person at a time. So I might not be shy like Barclay but I do usually go into a corner and examine stuff because I'm bored.

[Noko42]

My batteries drain fast if I have to talk to more then 3 or 4 people a day lol. It’s worse when they’re in groups, if I have to stand up in front of a group of people I will most likely end up fainting haha. After a week of working I need at least one day of no human contact. 

 

My roommate isn’t an introvert but I only really see him at work (he’s my 2IC). At home he knows I like my space so the most I hear from him is a text asking if I can make him a coffee as well lol. 

 

Even if my family show up on the weekend I can’t hold a conversation with them, they’re to draining so I hide in the kitchen cooking, cleaning and serving people while my roommate distracts them with photos and conversations so I don’t have too.

 

I hate making phone calls if I can’t do it online or via text. It might take a few weeks to get the nerve to ring, like the dentist haha (still haven’t shattered wisdom tooth will just have to wait lol).

 

But saying that I have gone out in crowded for a few weeks of partying and hanging out with people. It was over 6 months until I went outside my house (except work) after that haha.

[Guest]

What is my limit? These days it's frighteningly low... ☹️