Does anyone feel more energized by social interaction?

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I have a hard time having conversations with people other than my parents, sister, 1 friend and my boyfriend. I have a very large extended family and have to shut down whenever I am around them so I'm sure everybody always wondered what my problem was. Now that I have a facebook account, I am able to comment on their pictures and give encouragement and just have friendly interactions, so I feel better now that I have been able to show them who I am that way. The only problem is that my sister says that I put weird comments in my status, so I am trying to hold back a little there, but if you're nice to people I think they can be very forgiving of your idiosyncrasies.

I do feel energized with a select few, but that's because I can skip the chit-chat and talk about things as they really are. I can get energized at parties if I'm with someone I trust completely that I can stick to if things get hairy.

Everyday interaction with people outside immediate family makes me stressed and anxious. I'm working on letting go of the notion that I have to try.

I think feeling energized by social interaction is simply a personality trait associated with extroversion. I doubt there's anything you can do to change whether or not you are.

I often feel energized by intellectual discussions or when engaging in deeper more intimate/personal topics. Typical chit-chat makes my mind go numb. Unfortunately it's hard to go to a deeper level with most people. Either they're simple-minded and never think deeply or they prefer light-weight talk for some reason. Actually my thirst to be energized and relate through deep discussion is the main reason I participate here on WP. In real life nobody ever wants to talk about anything interesting.

I'm an extrovert... being among others is wonderful but exhausting! I only recently found out that my headaches always come from being overly enthousiastic in social interactions. This makes me try to be less eager but i can't help myself. My former boyfriend always compared me to a puppy I just want to befriend people, preferably all of them at once.

btw my IQ also tends to drop in social interactions. Thinking requires solitude for me. People who mee me tend to think I'm pretty ignorant and I can't even blame them; how can someone take a constantly smiling brunette who tends to talk extremely fast and stares at people a lot seriously?

@last two posters; really? YAY!! !

Yes I feel energised by social interaction. I love it but I have to take frequent breaks. Yesterday I spent an hour playing with play-doh with a 4 year old and I felt so great afterwards... I think with a 4 year old it is even more energising because I dont have to concentrate on "social skills" so much.

If I'm craving interaction, it can energize me...especially if it goes particularly well for a change.

If I'm not craving interaction, it might energize me, but only if it goes particularly well.

I get nervous energy from socializing, but for me that's not really good energy, as it gets my mind spinning and makes me unable to settle down for a long time and have trouble sleeping, so the next day I'm most likely dragging. Overall, it's draining of more time and energy than I like.

There are only a few people who I socialize with. I'm not going to count my husband and children, because they just accept me as I am. Occasionally relatives come over, and there are several people sitting in the living room. That kind of socializing is pretty good because it's mostly other people talking, and I'm pretty comfortable with everyone. The conversation is usually about something someone read in a science magazine or an experience someone had. When my dad comes over, it's like attending an interesting lecture with the occasional amusing comment from his wife, so it's actually kind of enjoyable. If it's my in-laws, I'm not as comfortable. My mother in law is a nice person, but she goes on and on with the small talk/gossip kind of stuff, and it wears me out quickly. She stands too close, if you back away, she steps closer. So after a few minutes, I'm like, "I just have to go upstairs for a bit," and then I shut myself in my room and spend some time alone. No one has ever complained to me about it, but I can see that it might be considered a bit rude. Basically I'm fine if the focus is not on me. People on WP describe social situations that would drive me bonkers. If my family gatherings involved having to shout at baseball games or gossip about weddings, I'd want to saw my head off with a butter knife.

At this stage of my life, being a stay-at-home-mom, I'm almost never required to attend any kind of social event. But if I do have to go someplace where I'm expected to socialize with people I barely know, I think I feel very much like what b9 described. I'm not sure if anyone can tell that I feel that way, though; I don't seem to come across as anything other than aloof. When I go to pick up my kids from school, there a whole lot of parents congregating outside, and they naturally group together. I feel like they are in a world that is so different from my own, that if for some reason I needed to become one of them, I wouldn't know how. A few years ago, I signed up for a volunteer opportunity, and I had to back out at the last minute when I saw that I would have to make that transition into their world. It's not that I dislike them, or that I'm too nervous. I just don't know how to become that thing that I am not. In fact, when it's absolutely required (like in previous jobs), I act, but it's hard to keep up. I don't know if that makes sense---especially, unlike a lot of you, I've gotten through life without a single person suggesting that I might be on the spectrum. So who knows what it all means. Maybe I'm just anti-social. Or a snob.

But energized by socializing? Nope.

I don't get energized from socilaizing. I think the oppisite is true for me. The thought of socializing with large groups of people makes me feel tired, run down. I want nothing to do with stuff like that. There Is no point to it.

The responses I have read so far seem to interpret the question as meaning parties. The only kind of party that I would find energizing instead of enervating would involve a small group of people I know well, like family or close friends. Even a large family reunion does the opposite.