According to most psychologists, humans are inherently social creatures; contact with others isn’t just a want—it’s a need. Deprived of it, people’s physical and mental health tends to decline. But the nocturnal people I spoke with feel they don’t need much interaction at all. “I’ve tried to hold down day jobs, but I couldn’t handle waking up early, rushing to work, and most of all just … being around people all the time,” Chris Hengen, a 26-year-old nighttime security guard living in Spokane Valley, Washington, told me via email. (He didn’t feel comfortable talking on the phone.) “I don’t have any ill will towards people, it’s just exhausting to me.” John Young, a 41-year-old network engineer living in Hammonton, New Jersey, told me he’s “more than happy” living a fairly solitary life. Young has worked night shifts on and off since the late 1990s; he prefers the peace of night, but that preference is sometimes mistaken for social anxiety or depression. In fact, he told me, he’s an introvert and this is just how he likes things. And many others I spoke with had similar reasoning.
Hey! They’re talking about me!
Exactly as noted, I don’t really mind social interaction per se, and actually quite enjoy it in small doses. I just find it to be exhausting - as if I’m surrounded by spiritual vampires who just want to feed on my carefully husbanded energy (which to some degree is exactly what I think it really is, but that’s fodder for another post).
I much MUCH prefer being entirely solitary, and especially in the middle of the night, when it’s just me and the moon and the stars and the owls and the crickets and the whip-poor-wills.
Had to look up what a whip poor will was. Gonna leave this here for anyone else who hasn’t heard of them. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_whip-poor-will
I’m an extrovert and I never really understood how it felt draining to be around others.
One day, it clicked. It must be the way it feels going shopping for clothes. I find that extremely tiring and overwhelming. Afterwords I’m so tired I can’t even think for a little while.
Ding ding ding!
And traffic. The absolute best part of sacrificing your melatonin is never having to drive in traffic. That kept me working nights for over a decade.
“(he didn’t feel comfortable talking on the phone)”
he just like me fr fr etc etc
ongod
Sounds like schizoid personality disorder.
You sound like a schizo for saying that.
Only if the specific person with schizoid personality disorder happens to also be an extreme introvert, as extroverted ones would not be like this at all. And even mildly introverted ones would be unlikely to prefer this. It’s completely separate from any neurodiversion.
