# Are quiet people, most likely to be crazier **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203 "2006-01-30T15:04:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/1 "2006-01-30T15:04:37Z")
than talkative people? ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/2 "2006-01-30T15:10:13Z")
This question was based on a disscussion last night. true, we were drinking rum and coke but is it an accurate observation? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/3 "2006-01-30T15:24:16Z")
> [@G. Carlin](#): > > Ever heard someone say, 'Its the quiet ones you gotta watch?" If you walk in a bar and one guy is sitting there minding his own business reading a book, but the other guy is screaming ‘I’M GONNA KILL THE NEXT SON-OF-A-BITCH THAT WALKS IN HERE’…Who ya gonna watch??? Yes, I’m the quiet type. And to be honest, most extroverts I come across creep me out. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/4 "2006-01-30T15:25:35Z")
Don’t know if it’s true, but the quiet crazies are likely to get away with it for longer. The talkative ones get taken away before they’ve even started building a death ray in their shed. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/5 "2006-01-30T15:39:36Z")
I don’t think they’re any more likely at all. Gregariousness is hardly a determinant for mental stability. It’s just that for someone in question, we would potentially find a personality offering fewer clues less obvious to predict and, therefore, more unsettling. But there’s hundreds of reasons for being reserved, and only maybe a few of them reflect negatively on the individual. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/6 "2006-01-30T17:48:13Z")
The quiet ones are always a surprise when they have a meltdown. But I agree with what **matt** said. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/7 "2006-01-30T18:59:13Z")
. . ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/8 "2006-01-30T19:11:19Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > . . Oh, fuck! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/9 "2006-01-30T19:14:37Z")
What? Unless you’re the Egg Man, you’ve got nothing to worry about! In answer to the OP-no, I don’t think so. I have no good reason for this, except to say that acting out is usually a sign of impending crisis. I quote Bob Hartley. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/10 "2006-01-30T21:08:47Z")
I’d have to agree with the…no not more likely to be crazy, just less likely for it to be noticed till a disaster happens school of thought. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/11 "2006-01-30T21:46:38Z")
I pretty quiet and respectable looking but I am crazier than a March Hare with advanced syphillis. I have learned to use outside cues when I need to play a sane person however so I don’t usually get into serious trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/12 "2006-01-30T23:14:46Z")
Well, it’s been established that the majority of people in prison can be clinically diagnosed with psychopathy. If you’re unsure what a psychopath is, the Joe Pesci character in “Goodfellas” is a perfect example. They tend to be extremeley self-centered, manipulative, untruthful, violent, and unaware of concepts like “right” or “wrong”. Definitely not quiet types. Most serial killers are surprisingly friendly and outgoing, at least on the surface. Shy people should be the least of your worries. People who are unnaturally quiet tend to have phobic personalies (meaning they’re simply too frightened to speak in public or attempt to make social contact), or they suffer from some form of autism or Asberger’s syndrome, which can lead to impaired social skills. In either case, violence is rare. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/13 "2006-01-30T23:35:06Z")
Quiet people often have stuff going on in their heads that very few people are privy to until you get to know them. I run a claymation club at school, and the mastermind of the club and the brains behind the operation is a kid who doesn’t hardly say boo to anyone. He’s very quiet, shy, unassuming, and cute as a button. However, this kid has crazy zombie-killing ninja fantasies to the soundtrack of System of a Down. He’s the perfect example of still waters running deep and weird, but it feels like a rare privilege to see into his mind. Someone like me? Everyone knows what I think and how I roll. Less mystique, more openness, that’s the trade-off ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-quiet-people-most-likely-to-be-crazier/342203/14 "2006-01-31T00:11:48Z")
No. But I do think people who lie on both extremes–very very talkative and very very quiet–tend to have unhealthy personalities. I think it’s related to how one expresses emotions. My hypothesis: Reserved people bottle up their feelings and then explode. Overly talkative people don’t know how to process their emotions internally, so they lack self-awareness and self-control.