Posted by Willow on May 12, 2002, at 15:40:00
In reply to Re: Highly Sensitive People and large groups » Ritch, posted by IsoM on May 12, 2002, at 11:58:17
Again, I must turn to my dictionary.
INTROVERT: a person characterized by concern primarily with his own thoughts and feelings AND/OR to direct (the mind, one's inerests, etc.) inward or to things within the self
EXTROVERT: a person who is primarily interested in things outside the self, as one who is gregarious
(Gregarious - fond of the company of others; socialble)I'm sure most of us apply these meanings to the words, and "professionals" do too, but I presume their concept of the ideas goes a bit more indepth. [I'm not aware of who sponsored the speaker, but we had a psychiatrist come up north here from the Clarke Institute (a psychiatric & addictions hospital in Toronto) to speak on teenage suicide.] His theory was that at the far extreme of the intorversion scale you would have someone with schizophrenia and then on the far end of the extroversion scale you would have someone with a personality disorder.
For myself, my psychologist considers me an introvert and then my spouse considers me an extorvert. Me, I say I'm a perfect balance between the two. And I do think I'm probably more correct than either of them, that no person in one or the other, but a mixture of the two traits. (But then note all the I's I use!)
Now for the sensitivity, if anyone cares for my opinion. My psych has tried to explain how this affects me. I'll use the expample of playing cards. On a good day I would be able to recall what cards have been played. On a bad day I would have a hard time keeping track of who's turn it is and believe that everyone is cheating, because my preception is so off. His reasoning for this is that my brain isn't able to filter out external things; such as temperature fluctuations, smells, noises, movements, etc.
For myself it doesn't matter what causes the stimulus, everything is overwhelming. Windy days are torture for me, because of the constant noise. A sauna which should be relaxing is agh! But for some reason effexor has helped with this. It hasn't been a cure, but I'm able to focus on one thing more easily. I still get bad days, but it's not a constant thing with the medication.
Oh, by the way, the movie "The Bandits" or just "Bandit," it's a fairly new release has a good protrayal of the introvert by Billy Bob Thorton (I think that's the guys name, he played in Swingblade I think again????.) I think the red haired actress is a good example of an extrovert. In case I'm wrong on either or both accounts the movie is excellent. I personally don't care for Bruce Willis, but in case you do like him he also stars in the movie.
Whistling Willow
ps the character played by billy bob is similar to me, except for the fact that i don't have the hypochondriac features. so if you do find yourself laughing at him, do it quietly because remember i have very good hearing, and am over sensitive
pps my daughter asked me if anyone reads the stuff i write on here. i said who knows? but i'll ask
poster:Willow
thread:23573
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020509/msgs/23611.html