I don't think these are strictly INTP traits, but it's definitely common. Most introverts I know are similar - I know an ISFP who's so awkward he makes people around him just as awkward. I don't think he has a lot of friends, despite the fact that he is older. I think part of his issue is losing his direction in life. I think it must do something to your sense of self-esteem, and therefore drag everything else down with it.
I don't know about your coping mechanism, if it works for you for now then that's fine I guess. But I don't know how long you could sustain that before you start to crack. I'm not going to give you advice as you haven't asked for it. I guess you will figure it out.
But I relate to your story. I realised by about three or four that I wasn't interested in other kids - I liked to talk about stuff, not play games or run around. If there were adults around I would hang around them, but they would usually tell me to go away and play. Sometimes, someone would realise that I just wanted to talk to them, and they would tell my mum how well-articulated and knowledgeable I was for my age. Mum used to call me "the little adult".
As I became older, it became more difficult to avoid my peers, but I made one friend who was a year older than me. She's an ENTJ and we still remain friends many years later. However, by the time I was ten I had become very anxious and bored with everything. I wanted to run away. School was boring, people were boring. The town I lived in was very religious and I felt constantly pressured by people to become religious. I was having problems at home, and a teacher at my school was stalking me at the same time. But I was too embarrassed to tell anyone because I thought there had to be something really wrong with me to attract all this unwanted attention. I did not trust my mother and dad was always overseas.
By the time I was fifteen, I discovered there were martial arts classes being held at my local school, so I used to sit and watch them. The leader asked me one day if I wanted to try, and I think it saved my life. I became a different person. The classes made me focused and calm and I felt extremely elated because I suddenly had a sense of direction. I put all my energy into perfecting my routines - I would go home afterwards and go through the sequences in my head, or practice behind the house. When I got my first grading I felt like I had conquered something in me that I never thought I could have conquered. It primed me for later achievements; if I, stupid, awkward me, could be a skilled martial arts competitor, I could also do other things with my life.
I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here. But I think it is important to become skilled at something, or push oneself towards certain goals because it gives you not only a sense of direction, but also the bonus inner strength you get from pushing your own limits and overcoming your fears. I don't know, maybe that is what you are doing with your dreaming experiment.
Martial arts helped me to overcome the extreme fear I had of failure, and everything else, including social things became easier to deal with because I had regained inner strength, and therefore a sense of integrity. I'm still awkward, but I'm okay with being awkward. People can take it or leave it.
