Dr. Carmella’s Guide to the Introverted is a very astute webcomic by Schroeder Veidt.

Below the comic I’ve also embedded a TED talk by Susan Cain who talks about how extrovert behaviour has come to be considered the norm and how introverts can (often unknowingly) make self-negating choices in an effort to fit into society better.

As someone who has definitely forced myself along to pubs and parties because I’ve felt like it was the ‘normal’ thing to do, it was actually pretty liberating when I realised that preferring my own company most of the time was also normal.

Anyway, here’s that TED talk:

Susan Cain: The power of introverts

Finally, this excellent article by Jonathan Rauch for The Atlantic is also worth reading if this whole notion is new to you.

Caring for Your Introvert

Science has learned a good deal in recent years about the habits and requirements of introverts. It has even learned, by means of brain scans, that introverts process information differently from other people (I am not making this up).

I didn’t bother to look for research on this, but it makes perfect sense to me. This however is the main paragraph for busy extroverts to pay attention to:

The worst of it is that extroverts have no idea of the torment they put us through. Sometimes, as we gasp for air amid the fog of their 98-percent-content-free talk, we wonder if extroverts even bother to listen to themselves. Still, we endure stoically, because the etiquette books—written, no doubt, by extroverts—regard declining to banter as rude and gaps in conversation as awkward. We can only dream that someday, when our condition is more widely understood, when perhaps an Introverts’ Rights movement has blossomed and borne fruit, it will not be impolite to say “I’m an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush.”

The follow-up article — Jonathan Rauch comments on some of the feedback he’s received for “Caring for Your Introvert”… — is also valuable reading.