My brain hurts after conversation.

[Quietguy11]

My brain hurts after socializing for any amount of time. At first I'm fine, I'm actually in the mood for interacting with someone who has the same interests as I do, but then 15-20 minutes into it my head/brain starts to ache, as if there's too much electrical activity going on from all the concentration that I am trying to project when I am engaged in a conversation with someone who is a total extrovert and is really talkative. I find my head begins feeling really disoriented and I can't focus my attention for very long, it's like the information just fly's over my head, and I miss the point altogether, normally asking questions to see if I'm getting what's being said. My friend is now gone, and my head is still throbbing. This is ultimately why I hate being in social situations. My brain just can't process too much information at once. I am so thankful for the online world of the internet, without it I would have no way of socializing.

 

[Quietguy11]

Can anyone relate with this at all? I may not be 100% accurate in describing this, but my head seriously pounds after I am in a conversation for so many minutes/hours. It's usually an after effect, like my head will feel cloudy throughout the conversation and I will have a hard time finding words to reply with, like the fluency of conversation won't come naturally to me, but when the night is over and I am unwinding, sometimes I feel a strong sense of relief that I can finally relax, but in tonight's case my head is aching from all the listening and absorbing I had to do throughout the night. Sorry if this sounds too weird to anyone lol.

 

[Quietguy11]

Okay no one has to reply, I'm just crazy. <_<

 

[Pacific_Loner]

It doesn't sound crazy at all I feel exactly the same after a 5 minutes conversation. I don't think there's anything you can do about it, that's how introverts are. You just need to recharge afterwards.

 

[Quietguy11]

well i don't get headaches but i am worn out mentally by conversations with very extroverted people.. the pace is way to fast when speaking to people like that i loose my concentration very easily and then end up saying "yeah.." "yes" "oh..." "i see.." alot XD it's especially bad if there are multiple people in the conversation.. i just can't seem to keep up at all and so i appear very slow when someone talks to me because i haven't been able to concentrate. it makes me feel sad sometimes because its mostly me just listening to others talk and it feels like im not as good as them or not interesting enough for them to talk too (if u can't keep up, people usually just ignore you since they are more interested in conversations). but there are more slow paced people i like to talk too, although usually i find i can only talk to them alone.. i just become the background person when there is more than 2 people, even when its my bf and someone else (makes me dislike others lol)

example conversation with some extravert friends i play an mmo with voicechat:

hi amy
hi
BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA
BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA
AMY DONT HEAL ME IM LOWERING
sorry!
BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA
BLA BLA BLA
BLA BLA BLA
amy can u res player1
ok
BLA BLA BLA
yay we did it
BLA BLA BLA BLA
ok im going ciao!
b..bye ^^'
sigh T____T

Nicely explained. That's exactly how I feel. I end up just saying one word replies a lot like "Ok" and "I see" because I can't think or expand my vocabulary because my brain isn't producing thoughts for me to speak. All my friends are extroverted people so they have great conversations with each other but when it comes to me I can't hold up my end of a conversation very well so in groups no one really pays much attention to me. It also makes me feel kind of unimportant but socializing online makes up for it. I can usually think with a clear mind and type out my thoughts with ease online except for some occasions where I find even that to be hard. But going back to what you said you pretty much described myself in a group situation to a tee.

It doesn't sound crazy at all I feel exactly the same after a 5 minutes conversation. I don't think there's anything you can do about it, that's how introverts are. You just need to recharge afterwards.

I know, that's something I need to learn to accept about myself. I am a total introvert. I just wish it got easier and easier with time. But I guess it's just the way introverted people function.

 

[Pacific_Loner]

^I think it does get easier, but with practice rather than time. The more you get used to interact with people, the less it drains you. In my case at least.

 

[Quietguy11]

Well that's all the hope I need, as long as I know I am not working toward something in vain I am happy. Because I do put in a lot of effort to feel more comfortably socially.

 

[freakSTATIC]

I understand this a lot, I am very isolated often not leaving my flat for months. At the moment the only people I see are my mum and my care coordinator, but I find after a short period of time I cannot process information. My brain gets stuck and the only way I can describe is it that it gets jammed or melts. Afterwards I am exhausted and my brain physically hurts. It takes me a few hours to recover from any verbal communication. I have to either play games or nap after verbal com and even typing, which I do not find stressful mostly is tough to do because my brain still feels scrambled and I need to switch off for a while.