The Neurotic Intorvert

Tsk Tsk Tsk, shame on me, not writing for a few days. I would try to write a huge amount to make up for it but I probably wouldn't succeed.

Onto the subject matter. I recently recied a rather interesting and strange piece of homework. I was given a test, the Eysenck Personality Test. It tests for introversion, Extroversion, Neuroticism and Stabiliy.

The score is determined by converting scores from a series of questions into numbers on the above scale. According to my test I am a Neurotic Introvert. To me, it sounds like the most unpleasant score to get. Apparently, I am moody, anxious, rigid, sober, pessimistic, reserved, unsociable and quiet-not pleasant at all.

There seems to be a rather common misconception as to what introversion is. It doesn't mean that you're shy and can't be around people. It means that your internal level of arousal is so high that you do not need to seek much external arousal. The Free Dictionary defines Neurotism as

A psychological state characterized by excessive anxiety or insecurity without
evidence of neurologic or other organic disease, sometimes accompanied by
defensive or immature behaviors. This term is no longer used in psychiatric
diagnosis.

Great.