Tendencies to hide.

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I always had them as a young child. Especially when people entered a room, my first instinct, if possible, was to hide, and if I felt comfortable I would come back out of hiding. To be honest this tendency is still with me today. Obviously I don't hide anymore, but I tend to be rather cautious as to the awareness of people. I tend to be become somewhat defensive in my body language and only once I feel more comfortable do I relax. This is almost instinctive, sub consciously done. I know when I was very young I would hide away from strangers, because I felt a certain unease around them to which I couldn't explain.

Can anyone relate? I am wondering if as a child you liked to hide away behind curtains or under the bed or behind objects?

Everytime I walk into a certain room of my house I go straight for the long curtain that blocks out a shallow depression in the wall and stand behind it. Even if I go in there to talk with someone I talk to them from behind the curtain. I don't know why. but it is not because I am avoiding anyone.

When I was a kid, I only hid sometimes. I played hide and seek too so I hid on purpose then. Nowadays I don't really hide, instead I avoid. The situation is so comfortable for me at home I don't like leaving the house and I have grown dependant on the comfort and serenity of being indoors just zoning out or whatever. You could call it hiding, maybe. I think it's an addiction to tranquility.

I was exactly like that as a child. When somebody visited us for the first time, nobody could drag me out of my room. If I was forced to come out I wouldn't say a word and went back in as soon as I could. Sometimes I pretended I fell asleep just to be left alone. My parents were quite annoyed with that and with me hiding all the time. I often feel the same compulsion now, but I've learned to dissimulate it and I avoid strangers or people I'm not comfortable with as much as I can.

As a small child I also thought that if I don't move and talk people won't see me.

sounds about right. I tend to walk parallel to cars when I need to cross, so I don't have to rely on someone's generosity to let me cross...

I was only slightly inclined to actually hide when I was younger, but round new people I was always extremely shy and would stay right next to someone I knew, (often my parents), as it made me feel safer. But now since I have got to the age where I have had to step out into the big wide world, whether I wanted to or not, I do not have that safeguard anymore. It is something you learn to cope with, and yes I still try to avoid uncomfortable situations that involve interacting with strangers. I still prefer going to the shops with my mum, and if I have to go by myself I make it as quick as possible: get what you need as quickly as possible so you can get out as quickly as possible.
I was in a situation only last year that I had a really strong urge to hide. It was at a friends birthday party and I didn't really know anyone else there apart from her. There were only about 5 others there and they did seem friendly enough, (I've no idea what came over me) but I ended up spending most of the night curled up in a chair pretending to have fallen asleep. (Sad I Know, but it was the only thing I could do to cope with the situation without seeming to be totally weird)... for some reason I have a real problem with talking strangers, and so come across as extremely shy, but once I know someone reasonably well I'm completely the opposite!

Yup. I used to hide under tables. There was a small desk/table in my room when I was a kid. I liked to curl up under it and write graffiti on the underside. I also still don't like lots of people around. I will tend to find a spot that I think of as "my seat" and stay there.

Woah, you guys seem so similar to me. If I have to be honest this particular characteristic of mine, has caused me much pain. Growing up, a handful of people picked up on this behaviour and seemed to enjoy how uncomfortable strangers made me feel. Just to know that I am not alone makes me feel better.

I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes its hard to believe that there are others out there like you, but places like this where you find people discussing situations you can relate to makes you feel so much better in yourself. I feel only those that have or have been in similar situations as you, (such as having a tendency to hide), really understand what you are meaning and more importantly what you are feeling.
I don't know about you but I tend to get rather annoyed towards people who say they know exactly what you mean when its obvious they don't as you don't actually understand feelings unless you have felt it yourself.

There was an incident one summer when I was 8 or 9, when some friends came by the house on a Saturday morning - unplanned. I tried to hide, but my mother told them I was home. So I made up a story that because I wasn't wearing a shirt, I thought they would throw rocks at me & didn't want to come out. Mind you, these were kids that I normally hung out with - but there were too many of them at one time & they hadn't made plans with me to do anything that day. I just couldn't bring myself to face them & had no idea why.

When I was a bit older (in my teens), if too many people came to the house at one time - relatives, or friends of the family - I would always hide in my room until my mother would convince me to come out & greet the guests. Then it was back to my room as soon as possible.

These incidents totally mystified me - there was no rational reason why I shouldn't want to see these people. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

It reminds me of the scene in the movie "Snow Cake" - after her daughter's funeral, Sigourney Weaver's character (an autistic woman) is hiding in her kitchen, when everyone has come back to her house for the wake. She says - "All these people - DOING SOCIAL - in my house!" (in the same way someone might say "all these people - HAVING SEX - in public!") I could totally relate.

If we're out in public I tend to hid behind whoever I'm with. Last night I ran into a teacher of mine and I stood directly behind my brother. And this is with a teacher I've known for 4 years! It's so much worse with strangers or someone I'm only slightly familiar with. It has always been this way. And I fear it always will.