I definitely share too much about myself- a talkaholic if im with someone I like. In groups I tend to take the lead in a conversation, turning it to my experience and knowledge. I often say "I read that..." or "I heard that...", but then make a fool of myself when I mix up the facts or the words Im using. For example, for weeks I was constantly thinking/feeling about entropy, the theory that everything gets less structured with time. Unfortunately, the word gradually morphed in my head so I was chatting on to people about "atrophy" and my theories. Someone said "did you mean entropy?" and I suddenly realised that atrophy is entropy within a body- a muscle- and that had come from when i was theorising about DNA and the effect of entropy-enducing substances like tobacco vs the brain's healing power in a person. But I looked like I'd seen a Brian Cox documentary and tried to be an intellectual, and ended up looking stupid. My problem in social situations seems to be that the wiring of my brain cant make the necessary links between my speech and my complex thoughts, which get mixed up when forming structured concepts.
When it comes to others in one-to-one conversations i guess my coping mechanisms and lack of memory about facts/objective details mean I focus on what kind of person I am talking to, what their "energy" is and how their experiences have made them who they are. I find it so hard to remember what friends (not close friends) do as a job or what they do at uni etc, and they find it rude that I have to ask them every time I see them. Most of the time I try to get them to give me information to help me remember what they said the last time. This also stems from not being able to link names and faces with the person- I've been diagnosing myself with a lot of mild aspergers-related disorders but prosopagnosia (sp?) or face blindness is definitely a hindrance in being sociable!
20 Mar 2014, 5:17 pm
