‘Don’t underestimate me because I’m quiet. I know more than I say, think more than I speak and observe more than you know.’
– Michaela Chung’

Introversion is sometimes mistaken for shyness and social anxiety disorder. However, it is important to know that these are not the same. Social anxiety is not exclusive to introverts because extroverts can also experience it. A significant difference between introversion and social anxiety lies in the fact that introversion may feel comforting when embraced as part of your identity, whereas there is no comfort in social anxiety disorder.

So as an introvert person you can be as confident and happy as someone who is extroverted, but as Michaela Chung put it (see CBC News, 3 July 2016): ‘If you are an introvert, you have different needs and desires than extroverts and that’s okay… I want every introvert out there to know that there’s nothing wrong with you’.

Chung continues saying that introverted people may feel misunderstood and lonely, and may also feel guilty because they want time for themselves when there is often pressure to be social.  Another big challenge for introverts is communication because introverts are ‘internal processors’ whereas extroverts are verbal processors, which means that they speak as they think. Introverts need to think before speaking, so they tend to speak more slowly, tend to pause, sometimes they can’t find the right thing to say at the right time.

According to Chung, something that can help introverts with communication is giving themselves ‘permission to share what’s going on in the inside, without invitation’. She says “one thing I noticed after hearing from tonnes of introverts on my website … is a lot of introverts are waiting, and waiting, and waiting for people to ask. But a lot of time people just don’t ask”. So even if it’s one thing that an introvert shares during the conversation — one idea, one thing they are excited about, one tidbit about their personality — they should give themselves permission to share it without invitation.