Difference between being Introverted and being Reclusive?

Post Reply New Topic

Personally I'm thinking being a reclusive. I have been feeling more and more withdrawn lately.Despite the fact that I have a high paying job,I don't feel that happy.Don't have many friends,never had a girlfriend(most likely never will),haven't went on Vacations in over a year.For the most part,I just stay at home when I'm not working.I'm starting to feel that there's a correlation between people with Aspergers/Autism and being reclusive.I have been a introverted person for 34 years,but I thinking about being a reclusive person.Is being reclusive just a extreme version being introverted?

Last edited by rick42 on 28 Jun 2018, 8:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Except for the high paying job part, I can relate to what you are saying.

I'm not decided on if I even believe that introversion is a real thing.To be clear, I don't think a preference and a natural aptitude or lack thereof for dealing with people has got significant baring on who a person is and I think it's better for you to judge that about yourself on your own terms and in my own experience this is freeing and comes with a sense of lifting a great weight. You can be any person it makes you happy to be.
I AM sure that being a recluse is a real thing, so I don't think they are the same.

This is a very hard subject for me to discuss, I myself am somewhat reclusive and I am not happy about it. I just don't fit in. I can't be like everyone else...whatever that is mine is broken and I am honestly glad, I like who I am and i don't want to change it. I'm not mean at all I listen really well, I'm friendly and so forth. You shouldn't choose to be a recluse I don't think. There may come a time when the option to not be a recluse anymore vanishes and it's better I think to try if you can. just remember, you can't see the future and you never know what cool stuff might happen if you give it a chance to.

hope it helps

You sound like a better-paid version of me. Undoubtedly depression factors heavily into my reclusive nature. I don't know where you are in that situation, but you should be aware of it so it doesn't sneak up on you.

I feel happier when I don't have to travel on a vacation, spend time with friends, worry about leaving the house though. Those things make me tired/stressed. At the same time, it feels like I'm missing something. Do you feel that way at all?

About 50 percent of the world are introverts and 50 percent are extroverts. Most Aspies are introverts but make up only a small percentage of the introvert world. Many Aspies like the quiet and beauty and wonder of nature. So some choose to live the life of a hermit, far away from the city lights. I suspect there are many Aspies living in Alaska. But if you want to become a recluse, since you currently have a high paying job, you might set that as a goal and build up a nest egg so that you have something to rely on during the transition - so that you can ease into it.

If your question is "what is the difference?" the difference is that "being reclusive" means living like hermit away from society.

Kurt Cobain was introverted.
Enya is a recluse.

I have family within driving distance and an aspiring friend.. but I need a lot of alone time to relax before going to work and I have poor time management and hard time concentrating to start a task. I end up living as a recluse. It sucks. I am 31. I never had a girlfriend but achieved dates and a first kiss and sort of even sex twice.

I would advise against becoming a complete recluse. I work with elderly people and those who live alone - become weird and unhappy and u healthy it seems. Some people look happy and pleasant, ones who are educated and have hobbies. But I don’t see life being meaningful that way.

I don’t have the answer for myself. In my twenties I was working on overcoming autism. Now I don’t believe in trying anymore. I have depression. Also my sex drive is down.

Don’t be recluse - brainstorm and fin your own way not to be a recluse.

My mom used to say I wanted to be a hermit or that I was going to become one. I mostly just wanted to be left alone when I wasn't in skewl. I never participated in any extracurricular activities & didn't really have friends I saw outside of skewl. I mostly just stayed in my room except when I wanted to eat or when my parents wanted me for something. I was kind of the same way after I graduated high-skewl too. I mostly only went out when I could eat out or when we were going to places where I could fill out job apps. I spent most of my time on computer. I did have online friends thou & an online girlfriend but I didn't really socialize with anyone offline.

If Enya was extroverted, would she be called "Outya"?
Seriously though, I've heard her described as both (introverted, reclusive).

There was a story in the news a few days ago about a hermit that lived on an island alone for 30 years. Japanese hermit forced to give up his remote island.
In the back of my mind I was considering the possibility that he might be an Aspie.

Here is another link.
Japanese island man lives as naked hermit.