My wife struggles with introversion. She hates talking to strangers and non-friends, calls networking "schmoozing", and generally sees only the negative in meeting new people. I've tried to get her to read this book for years, but she fights me on it.
I also find it weird that you characterize your wife's introversion as a struggle like introversion is some sort of abnormal condition. Some people just don't enjoy random conversations about random topics because randomness is usually not a great way to select for quality.
As for my spouse... yes, it hurts her, and she's aware it hurts her. It limits her effectiveness as an artist, and it limits her career options. You can't "cure" introversion (it's not a disease, it's a personality), but you can compensate for it. And part of that is just cultivating internal attitudes - for example, not thinking of networking as something deceptive and selfish ("schmoozing"), but rather as something sincere and generous.
For some, that may come naturally … for others, it may be something that they need to work on. But it’s not about smiling and nodding while they talk about themselves … it’s about genuinely being interested in them as a person and caring about what they have to say.