原來這才是內向

When you hear the term "introvert," you might imagine someone who's quiet and insular, who likes to spend most of their time alone, avoiding social situations.

說到內向這個詞，聽者腦海里可能會浮現(xiàn)起一個安靜而孤獨的形象，他們寧愿花大部分時間獨自一人，也不想進入社交場合。

But being an introvert isn't really anything to do with how much you like spending time with other people. In fact, introverts can have some of the deepest and most meaningful friendships.

但是，內向和喜歡獨處并不相關。事實上，有時候內向者能夠收獲最深刻和最有意義的友誼。

The difference between introverts and extroverts is actually biological, and it comes down to how they unwind after social situations.

內向者和外向者之間的差異實際上是生物性的，體現(xiàn)在經(jīng)過社交情景之后，他們如何放松自己的身心。

Doctor of psychology Perpetua Neo told Business Insider that in terms of their brain chemistry, introverts have a lower threshold of dopamine sensitivity than extroverts (dopamine is a chemical associated with reward because it makes us feel good).

心理學博士Perpetua Neo指出，就他們的腦內化學過程而言，內向者的多巴胺敏感性閾值低于外向型(多巴胺是一種與獎勵相關的化學物質，它使我們自我感覺良好)。

Essentially, the lower your dopamine threshold, the more easily stimulated you are.

基本上，多巴胺閾值越低，你越容易受到亢奮。

"As an introvert, you are more energised by spending time on your own, or in very small intimate groups of people you trust," Neo said."So when you are out in a social environment that is very highly stimulating, what happens is that while the extrovert gets more and more incandescent and magnetic, the introvert starts shrinking and shrinking away."

Neo說：“作為一個內向的人，你會更享受一個人的世界，或者，在某個備受你信任的親密小團體中，你會更容易興奮愉悅。所以當你處在某種情感激蕩的社交關系之中時，會發(fā)生的是，盡管外部的壓力越來越大，而你向內收縮的傾向卻越來越小。”

Introverts have different brain chemistry

內向者有不同的腦化學過程

The pathway that an introvert's or extrovert's brain takes when they are in social contexts differs. While extroverts have a very short pathway, for introverts it is called the Long Acetylcholine Pathway. It's much longer, which means that a stimulus goes through many different parts of the brain.

內向者或外向者的大腦在社會環(huán)境中所采取的神經(jīng)通路是不同的。外向者的電化學信號的途徑很短，但對于內向者來說，它被稱為長乙酰膽堿途徑。這要長得多，意味著外部刺激誘發(fā)的信號經(jīng)過了大腦中的許多不同部位。

One is the right frontal insular cortex, the part of the brain that notices errors. Introverts notice all sorts of details, which makes them self-conscious about the mistakes they are making. Another is the frontal lobe, which evaluates outcomes.

一個是右額葉島皮層，即注意錯誤的大腦部分。內向者注意到各種細節(jié)，這使得他們對自己正在犯的錯誤感到自覺。另一個是額葉，負責評估結果。

This means an introvert has a really busy mind worrying about what's going to happen. They also tend to draw very strongly from their long-term memory bank when speaking.

這意味著一個內向的人有一個非常忙碌的頭腦，總是憂心會發(fā)生的事情。在講話時，他們也傾向于從他們的長期記憶庫中調取經(jīng)驗獲得鼓勵。

Basically, for an introvert an event is never just an event. While extroverts can just immediately respond and react to environments, introverts cannot because so much is going on in their head.

基本上，對于一個內向的人來說，一件事從來就不只是一件事。雖然外向者可以立即對環(huán)境作出反應，但內向者不行，因為他們腦海中存在太多的線程。

"That's why they are vulnerable for being a bit more anxious in a social context, or what people might call a bit more 'neurotic,'" Neo said."But that's just because the brain is wired that way. So essentially what happens is after too much social stimulation, whether we're talking about small groups, or a noisy overstimulated context, an introvert's nervous system is overwhelmed."

“這就是為什么他們在社交場合更容易焦慮，或者人們可能稱之為神經(jīng)過敏。”Neo說，“但那只是因為他們的大腦以這種方式處理信息，所以總是會受到太多的社交刺激，無論我們是在談論小團體，還是在外部過度嘈雜的刺激情境下，內向者的神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)都更容易超載。”

The 'introvert hangover'

“內向宿醉”

Because of this, introverts need to spend time alone to withdraw and recharge, known as their "introvert hangover." This activates a different pathway in the brain that stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system – responsible for "rest and digest" functions.

正因為如此，內向者需要花時間獨處來從過度刺激中恢復過來，然后重新補滿消耗掉的情緒，這被稱為“內向宿醉”。這激活了大腦中刺激副交感神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的不同途徑——負責“休息和消化”功能。

Introverts like this pathway because it helps them wind down when they have had a lot of cortisol and adrenaline has been coursing through them.

內向型人士喜歡這條路徑，因為它可以幫助他們在皮質醇和腎上腺素大量涌現(xiàn)后，逐漸平復自我的心緒。

"When we can actually spend time recharging, whether its sitting at home, cleaning your house, or watching Netflix, or lying down and reading a really good book, your acetylcholine pathway kicks in," Neo said. "Essentially this calms your body down and makes you quite happy."

Neo說：“當我們花費時間自我充電時，無論是坐在家中，打掃房間，還是看Netflix，或是躺下來閱讀一本非常好的書，你的乙酰膽堿通路都會啟動。從本質上講，這可以令你身心寧靜，讓你很開心。”

How introverted or extroverted you are – and you're likely to be somewhere in the middle – is simply your neurodiversity. It has nothing to do with how shy or socially anxious you are.

你內向或外向的程度——你可能處于兩者中間的某處——就是你的神經(jīng)多樣性程度。它與你的害羞程度或社交焦慮無關。

"Social anxiety is where you have fear and this need to avoid social situations because you are so scared of how you are going to perform," Neo said."You think you're stupid, or people will laugh at you, or you'll never measure up. So there's a bit of that fraudster, imposter syndrome in that… Within that event itself your brain is always looking for errors and scolding yourself."

Neo說：“社交焦慮是你有恐懼的東西，而且需要避免社交場合，因為你害怕面對那種處境之下的自我行為。你認為你是愚蠢的，或者人們會嘲笑你，或者你永遠無法達到他人的標準，所以就出現(xiàn)了所謂的冒名頂替者綜合癥……在這種情況下，你的大腦總是在尋找錯誤和責備自己。”

After the event, she added, a socially anxious person will rewind the whole thing in their mind on a loop with all the things they shouldn't have done, or feel bad about, ignoring all the good things. This leads them to want to avoid any future social interactions, because it feels so exhaustingly uncomfortable.

她補充說，一個社交焦慮的人會把已經(jīng)發(fā)生的整個事件映照到他們的內心循環(huán)中，反復在腦海里上演其中自己表現(xiàn)得最糟糕的段落，忽略所有好的部分。這導致他們想要逃避所有的社交互動，因為那令他們極其不舒服。

"A lot of people conflate introversion with social anxiety, and that's just not true," Neo said.

“很多人把內向和社交焦慮混為一談，這是不正確的，”Neo說。

"You can be an extrovert and have social anxiety, or be painfully shy, or socially awkward. The difference is an introvert will tend to recharge on their own and an extrovert needs busy surroundings and busy situations in order to recharge."

“你可能是一個外向型的人，有社交焦慮，或者有點害羞，或者在社交上很尷尬，不同之處在于內向者傾向于為自己重新充電，外向者需要沉浸到忙碌復雜的環(huán)境中才能得到充電。”

Introverts hate small talk

內向者討厭閑聊

Introverts thrive on social interaction, just as many people do. They just do it in a different way to people who are more extroverted. For instance, a "social butterfly" extrovert may like to meet 50 people at an event, and get a buzz from talking to as many people as possible.

內向者的社會關系一樣可以蓬勃地發(fā)展，就像其他人。他們只是以一種不同的方式去來完成社會生活。例如，一個的外向型的交際高手可能喜歡在一個活動中與50個人寒暄問候，并和盡可能多的人進行談話。這種走馬燈一樣的忙碌感令他們更加自在享受。

Meanwhile, an introvert probably aims to get to know just two new people, but they will hope to foster the beginnings of a deep relationship.

與此同時，一個內向的人可能只是想認識其中兩個陌生人，但他們同時希望這是一場深厚友誼的開始。

This is one reason introverts often hate small talk, which Neo calls "small-talk disorder." It also means they will consistently be overwhelmed and need to rest afterward, sometimes sleeping for up to 18 hours at a time.

這是內向者經(jīng)常討厭聊天的原因之一，Neo稱之為“聊天障礙”。他們會一直不知所措，之后還需要休息，有時可以一次睡18個小時。

Introversion is not an insult; it's just a different way of living to other people. And wherever you are on the introversion-extroversion spectrum, the most important thing is learning how to use your differences to your advantage.

內向不是侮辱;它只是一種不同的生活方式。無論你的性格在內向—外向的那個位置，最重要的是學習如何利用你的差異來獲得優(yōu)勢。

"When you spend time having fun or resting in your introvert hangovers, you can accelerate your professional and personal growth," Neo said.

Neo說：“當你在內向宿醉中娛樂或休息時，你可以加快職業(yè)技能和個人成長。

"The more comfortable you are with telling people: 'I have an introvert hangover; this is the time for myself. I'm blocking these chunks of time dedicated to me,' the more you are able to own yourself as an introvert – rather than thinking there's something wrong with you."

“你可以明確地告訴人們：'我有一種內向性的宿醉，這是我自己的時間，我不希望讓別人占用我的時間，'你越是落落大方地坦誠相告，你就越能更好地把握自我。這可比因為內向而自卑好得多了。”