“Social situations” is not one category. People with selective attention disorder [SAD] may have difficulty conceptualizing this, but people with broad spectrum awareness [BSA] will understand it intuitively. There are social situations that drain us, and there are social situations that activate us. There are endless gradations and variations of how social situations can drain or activate us.
This is the spectrum we are on.
To be on the spectrum means to have access to BSA. Telling this to a person with SAD will likely cause them to experience cognitive dissonance [CD]. You’ll recognize this when they tell you you are overthinking.
It’s not you, sweetie.
They just can’t help it. Cognitive load grinds their gears, just like it does ours, but in different situations. The difference is that they point the finger of blame outward, while we point the finger of shame inward.
Don’t be gaslit.
Disengage, call a BSA buddy and laugh and laugh about that SAD encounter you just had. You’ll be glad you did.
💝