Its like my brain and personality shut down

Around immediate family, i'm just me...but around extended family and strangers, I shut down, I don't say anything, and I feel bored and tired. Sometimes, I don't know what to say to people but sometimes I have questions in my head and I hold them back. I feel like I need to practice having conversations with someone and express myself because I feel like its holding me back. At work, everyone always comments on how quiet I am and I think sometimes people interpret my behavior as not liking them but that not the case.

Sounds like you suffer from social anxiety. It can come in many forms. Good bet is to describe your symptoms to a professional and he or she could recommend an approach on how to tackle it.

Why are you so shy? Have you always been introverted?

Do you try to initiate conversation at all...do you get anxious when you have no choice but to talk to people (when they approach you)?

I struggle with the same. I've improved a bit by trying to improve my general mental state through a whole range of things (therapy, medication, exercise, meditation, etc.). I'm a bit sensitive to the vibes of people and situations, so that often affects me, too.

It sounds like you're a bit introverted.

Don't worry, it's not a disease; it just describes the way you feel and behave in social situations, and there are a lot of people like you, (including me!)

You just have to make more of an effort when you interact with people-be a good listener and show interest in other people- and after a while you'll become more comfortable in these situations.

I've always been shy but when I was younger it wasn't such a big deal because there was always some other kid who would talk to me, whether I contributed a lot or not. Now when I don't say much, people get turned off and give up, which sucks because I'm one of those people who it takes effort to get to know. The thing that bothers me the most is when people tell be that I am quiet...as if I don't know it. This has happened this week at my new job and the place I just started volunteering at. It makes me self-conscious and probably makes the problem worse. I don't know if I have social anxiety because I don't have a problem going to the store or through the drive thru (these are situations I read about on a social anxiety website) I just am very unlikely to make small talk with the people I encounter in these places. I've gotten so used to being alone that I have come up with coping mechanisms to keep my mind occupied, like playing a new song over and over in my head, and now I don't just do this when I am alone but around others too.

I've encountered plently of people who have thought that I was rude because I didn't speak much. It's annoying because I sometimes feel like I want to tell them that it's not that I'm rude or that I don't want to talk to them personally, its just that I had no desire to talk about anything in the very first place.

If you suspect social anxiety and if its bothering you and affecting the quality of your life then I suggest that you go and get checked out but apart from that, I too have come up with a few mini rituals that I practice when I'm alone.

I don't know about you but I've developed some kind of attachment to my solitary existence and to be honest, I'm starting to really enjoy living in my own little world of isolation. What about you? Do you cope well being alone?

you sound like me when i was younger. i was real quite. it took me until i became a sales man that i really had to talk. it tkes time but you will grow out of it

It's an interesting thought to imagine what it'd be like if I grew out of being an introvert and into the shoes of an extrovert. hmm =/.

How old are you ferna if you don't mind me asking.