Could a person be an extrovert as a child and turn a complete introvert in her teen years?

Question

i was very out-going as a child and had many adult friends but i really cannot place my finger on the exact period in my life that i turned a complete introvert.nothing really significant happened to justify this change just that my dad beat me a lot more than he beat my siblings.now most people think i am very much closed up.could i become more out-going again?now i really do not have any close friends.more of a loner now.

Answer 1

I was the same,

my father caused a lot of domestic violence in my house and both my parents were alcoholics. I can't pin point the exact time i started to become shy but i was around 11 - when i started secondary school.

Like many introverts I was pressured by others to socialise more. But I largely resisted this pressure, partly because I enjoyed being an introvert. I often viewed extroverts as lacking in intelligence and depth, and I can’t say I wanted to count myself among them.

Introverts belong to two distinct groups :

Group A: Self-sufficient, confident, hardworking, with firm goals, self-actualizing, reserved, preferring activities that involve inner experience and introspection.

Group B: Shy, timid, withdrawn with low self-concept, lacking in communication skills, demonstrating fear of people, dread of doing things in front of others, who prefer being left alone.

Once you work out what introvert you are, it's easier to work out what you can do about it and work out what caused you from going from an extrovert to an introvert, sometimes fear of social situations is the answer to give us a kick in the right direction.

I think your Dad is one of the main underlying causes as to why you are now introvert.

I forced myself to have therapy and move over 100 miles away from home for University, However, over a long period of time, I eventually found myself becoming more and more extroverted. I embraced spending time with other people, went out of my way to meet new people, could comfortably introduce myself to strangers, and actually enjoyed it instead of hiding away in my room reading etc.

It takes time, it won't happen over night.

I think you would benefit from seeing a counsellor, it's hard to try and defeat this on your own - i know, i've been there.

Answer 2

"nothing really significant happened to justify this change just that my dad beat me a lot "

Sounds like you are trying to cover up the fact that what your dad is a big deal and could very well be the reason why you've become an introvert.

My answer is yes, people *can* change into something totally different-I'm a firm believer that we make up what life is.

To make changes sometimes you have to look at the underlying causes of the things you particularly do not like about yourself. That is where you start, in my ipinion.

Even if you don't *think* that the cause of your change in personality is a particular reason, you are elliminating impt. factors including denial. Speak to a counsilor/therapist about this...you're talking about a big change here so you might need extra help with that.

Answer 3

I was just the opposite.  I was very shy and introverted as a child.  I would have died before getting in front of people on a stage or speaking out loud.  When I reached my mid-teens, I started to change and now, years later, I perform on stage, have no reservations of speaking in front of others or asking questions.  I still have reserved moments, but for me, I think I realized that if I spoke or made a mistake, nobody was gonna really do anything to me, that I had a right.  You have probably put a shield around yourself to keep from being sought out or hurt.  You can overcome that.  You need to be with people who have gone through similar experiences and vent.