A Note on Reclusiveness.

It seems to be an interesting fact about the truly reclusive individual that the more he becomes isolated from the company and activities of people, the more he becomes subject to the influence of his environment.

Most people have jobs, friends, hobbies and social activities, and to some extent those things insulate them psychologically from their surroundings. But to the recluse who has none or very little of those things, every degree of change in the temperature is keenly felt, every raindrop is significant, every nuance of the wind’s voice is influential to his mood and can become oppressive, every knock at the door or ring of the phone suggests the possibility of pollution, and every sound not of his choosing holds the potential to sting. Add to this the fact that recluses generally have a greatly extended capacity for awareness, and the result is something which normal people won’t begin to understand.

Life as a recluse can be difficult. Factors which are of little consequence to most other people can send him to the edge of reason, leaving him unable to function normally and desperately hanging onto his mental faculties. If you think autistic people have difficulty coping with life, they do. But they’re not the only ones.