Stress and the INFJ

Sometimes I find it difficult to the threads that hit home the most. I lived between the last two stages for years. I don't need to go into detail, but when I finally got out of it I don't remember big chunks. I know I was sick on someones couch and I couldn't get around by myself. I know I am still healing, but as my friends say I am a lot better and happier now then when they first met me.
 
perhaps this should be stickied?
 
The principle of using different functions when under stress makes sense to me based on experience. I could not relate to the specifics of the theory for how these preferences change. I am never extroverted under actual stress. I withdraw, however, there is something that happens with my thinking and feeling functions. It feels most like they switch places. I get detached from emotion and plan ways to regulate my emotions. I would say my personality divides into two components under stress: one an INTJ the other an INFP.
 
Thank you so much for this information. It has helped me make sense of what happened to me a couple of years ago. I was under long term stress for more than three years, without respite. I went right through that rainbow of personality shifts, off the end of it ( I remember simply sitting down by the roadside, unable to go anywhere), and back again. It was a horrible, bewildering, intense rollercoaster of a journey. I'm finally back to what I would consider being 'myself' now, but it has taken a full two years to recover and I'll never quite be the same. There are some things that are lost forever, but on the other hand I have gained perspective. I know what the bottom feels like, and I am so very grateful for my life now, as I feel whole and complete once more. Anyway this thread has given me a level of insight that I didn't have, so thank you once again. If anyone is going through something similar and wants a sympathetic ear, feel free to pm me.
 
What effect would severe psychological damage, trauma, or very prolonged stress then have on type? Is there really damage that is "unfixable"?
 
ive been lerking for a bit now. hadnt had much to say but this thread really hit home. i think there is a great deal of very important information in it.

personally, i either skipped right past the EXXX steps or they were so brief i dont recall them. i find that i am social up to a certain shallow point but past that, i am painfully introverted. to take on an extroverted attitude or any of the other 'large and in charge' attitudes, someone had to threaten, typically, a loved one. otherwise my stresses are all internal, reflected internally and damages/expresses only to me. i am, seemingly, outside of jest, able to be extroverted if it benefits another. i simply can not push myself outward like that.

i have also found that most minor stresses are delt with in a rather INTP fashion. if im bored or lightly stressed, i test INTP. (im still trying to figure that one out... its very consistent and when reading through their values etc, it is comfortable.)


waterbaby said:
What effect would severe psychological damage, trauma, or very prolonged stress then have on type? Is there really damage that is "unfixable"?
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i think that really depends on the individual and what caused the damage.

i have been past the INFP stage only to land squarely in the ISTJ stage. it lasted for a few weeks until the situation resolved itself. it took intervention from a friend which likely helped me repair much of the damage done.

INFJ's, in my experience, are very 'hope' based creatures. we seem to find hope when we really need it. it is what fuels our innocence, expands our wisdom and gives us strength when all other things fail. when stressed, dont forget to give hope an inroad at all times. it will be what pulls you through any difficult time.

for me, the 'light at the end of the tunnel' is what typically repairs much of the damage done.

since, as INFJ's (or perhaps just because we are NF's), we are very complex, we have a remarkable ability to find, somewhere, what we need to repair damage we sustain. we are adaptable to the outside world, we are chameleons in relationships, we are intune with ourselves and others... there are so many different avenues to comfort ourselves.... not so remarkable since we come up with so many different ways to comfort others. :) we just have to remember to use these methods ourselves!

-ash
 
Silently Honest said:
Would anyone believe me if I told them I've seen all eight stages, but said I'd rather not explain how?
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I have admit to this too.

Are there any updates on this theory anyone? (Nobleheart?)
 
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The original post sounds like something from an episode of United States of Tara.
 
This thread is really helpful actually.

I'm currently in INFP, but I've been in them all before.

I think my depressions happen in INFP.

Question - What does this stress pattern look like in an ENFJ?
 
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Being at the "inundated" level a lot in my childhood and adolescence would explain why I mistyped as INTP for so long.
 
Yes, thank you sooo much for posting this. It is very interesting, and really explains a lot. I went through the stress levels for my type (INTJ) and there were some interesting revelations. I can definitely become an ENTJ under a moderate amount of stress...I am naturally a "go-getter" and so when a challenge comes, I go into overdrive. However, the challenges (as they often are in life) are those that have things I cannot control and thus utilize the awesomeness of Te so...

When I am "snapped" I can totally be an ESFJ and turn into Bridezilla. But sadly, I think stress has been so much that I have actually reached the "broken" level (ISFJ). In a lot of ways, I really relate so much to that type, even though I TEST as INTJ on the MBTI. I was bullied a lot and underwent some abuse in childhood, which may have affected personality development. I also did not have much of a father figure growing up. My dad (INFP) was one who was more willing to "push" me outside my comfort zone, whereas my mother (with all good intentions) was an IxTJ who wanted to protect me. I have been put down by people so much that I had started to believe it, and came to the conclusion that if I wanted people to like me, I had to be super nice and helpful. I lost all ability to assert myself. I came to a realization a while back that I lived with the mindset that people would only like me for what I could do for them, not for who I AM. So I am working on trying to fix it and take my life back.
 
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