High Cognitive Minds

Little by little, the characteristics so typical of the highly gifted are being de-pathologized--by the people who pathologized them in the first place. I suppose we should be grateful for being given permission to be ourselves, and not carp about it, but carping is what I do best. I have my list of the Phrases I Hate to Hear: "you think too much," "why do you have to analyze everything to death," and my very favorite--"why don't you get out and socialize more?"

Psychologists are finally coming around to the idea that mental health
doesn't absolutely require that you have a flock of friends, party the week-ends away, and spend a good portion of your time on the phone, chatting about the latest ephemera. You can be a loner and be okay. It's a pleasant surprise to read that "Introverts aren't just less sociable than extroverts; they also engage with the world in fundamentally different ways. While outgoing people savor the nuances of social interaction, loners tend to focus more on their own ideas—and on stimuli that don't register in the minds of others."

The article makes the distinction between those who are loners who are content being the way they are, and those who would like to mingle and have friends, but are prevented by shyness and anxiety. Loneliness is much more a part of the "enforced" loner, and also more subject to stress and its health risks than the content loners.

"Amanda Guyer, a psychologist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, has found that socially withdrawn people have increased sensitivity to all kinds of emotional interactions and sensory cues, which may mean that they find pleasure where others do not." MRI studies show increased blood flow to specific parts of the brain during social situations, Guyer believes that this overstimulation is what makes some kinds of social interaction so tiring for introverts.

"...psychotherapist Elaine Aron bears out Guyer's hunch, demonstrating that withdrawn people typically have very high sensory acuity. Because loners are good at noticing subtleties that other people miss, Aron says, they are well-suited for careers that require close observation, like writing and scientific research."

So, if you "think too much" and "over-analyze" everything, now you have the official word: you're doing what comes naturally, and you have nothing to apologize for.

Field Guide to the Loner: The Real Insiders