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Comment by franze | Hacker News Reader

It's strange that some of my peers did not mind the lockdown at all, some even enjoy it and find it relaxing. I on the other hand completely faltered.

I always saw myself as an introvert which rather reads books, codes and figures out stuff, than mingling at networking events. So it took me by surprise how big the psychological impact of the lockdown was/is one me. I tried to analyze myself here https://medium.com/@franz.enzenhofer/supporting-and-hating-t...

In short and as strange as it sounds: As an introvert I need meaningful interactions with people to challenge myself. And without challenge I sucumb to depression. Hard times.

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Being an introvert doesn't mean you don't like/need socializing, it means you get tired from it and need to recharge afterwards by being alone. Extroverts gain energy by being around others whereas introverts lose it

Does personality affect the uptake of ATP?

Potentially, I've never seen a study relating personality to ATP.

The usage of "energy" here is a metaphor for how the dopamine system is invoked in the brain. Introverts have less dopamine released in a social interaction than extroverts do, and that gives the impression of "tiredness" or "having less energy".

Yeah I think I would generally agree with this. I did not necessarily mean energy in a literal sense. If you've ever been hanging out with friends and suddenly you just don't want to talk or do anything except for go home then you'll know the feeling I'm referring to.

It's a feeling of depletion, but perhaps it's due to dopamine or another neurotransmitter

I didn't expect I would enjoy the lockdown as much as I do. It probably helps that in my country we have a soft lockdown. I did have to overcome a tinge of bad conscience, but that didn't last. I wonder if this is related to the black hole you mention, does it have anything to do with shame?

I made a comic about my experience, but it's in french... https://lecourrier.ch/app/uploads/2020/04/intermede-confine-...

For me the lockdown (I am in Germany so it is relatively lighter than some other places like Italy or Belgium) was not a big incovenience, the only thing I am really missing is my Martial Arts regular training.

For the rest I just had more time to devote to hobbies so I am more or less fine, so far.

I have a page devoted to Loneliness/Solitude on my personal website (https://www.pa-mar.net/Lifestyle/Solitude.html) and I will add the OP article to the reading list in the appendix.

I'm an introvert, but my hobbies are outdoor sports that require other people and sometimes enclosed spaces.

I was dying! I had to go home and move in with family so I could speak to someone more than once every two weeks.

Was? Did you go back to normal activities already?

> I had to go home and move in with family so I could speak to someone more than once every two weeks.

Eyeballs, friend, use them.

I was just telling my family over the weekend that the one good thing about all this is that, for once in my life, I didn't feel bad about being a hermit, which is my natural state.

it's good to remember that introversion/extraversion are not fixed dispositions but dynamic states that we each flitter back and forth through. adjectives rather nouns.

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