I want to talk a bit about INFJs and mental health, something that seem to be a quite popular and reacquiring subject out there. Unfortunately mental health is somewhat a struggle for many INFJs and there are many misconceptions concerning it. Misconceptions in the regard that INFJs would in some way be weaker on a mentally and emotionally level and that would be why many struggle with anxiety and depression. It is true that we are more sensitive then other personalities but that doesn’t necessary equal anything along the lines of weakness. It has been shown that INxx types in general are the ones that often struggle with emotional sensitivity. I would say that a heightened emotional sensitivity is as much a strength as it can make life harder at times. You are merely playing on a completely different playing field then less emotionally evolved people. Being more sensitive to emotions equals a greater understanding and perception of them. It is easy for other people to call you unstable or emotional when they themselves cannot perceive the situation at hand. We all view life through different lenses, but INFJs can often view life throughout multiple lenses, free from conditioning or influence. Being this type of empathic people with often divided personalities is what makes it hard in comparison with others. Yet there is nothing wrong with us or our mental health, simply the fault lies in the rest of the worlds comparison of us with themselves.

The nature of intuition is in not trusting how things appear even thought answers may be laid out in front of you. Always searching for alternative possibilities, clues or hints of the true nature of things. It is no wonder why INFJs can easily feel that they are losing their grip when as an introverted intuitive dominant, your are always changing and  endlessly searching for meaning within yourself and the rest of the world. This is what intuition is meant to do, and in there lies much of the problem when it comes to mental  health issues. You can ask yourself the question that if you no longer trust what you can see and feel with your own senses, does that mean you are mentally ill? An unhealthy version of this would be somebody who is schizophrenic. Yet there are similarities here like being able to view the world unattached from presumptions of how things are and should be. In other words, viewing it free from previous experiences, like you would view it for the very first time. In order for INFJs to draw those incredible conclusions about the nature of things this is what is needed on a mental level. So it is not hard to understand that always operating in this type of functionality comes with certain drawbacks. Like when we get stressed or pressured we can even stop trusting ourselves and our own existence.

How do you handle your thoughts and emotions when they seem even more real then the things happening in the world around you? Here is where our inferior function comes in, and the reason we have this fetish for extroverted sensing is because without it we would lose ourselves completely. It is the counter weight to our intuition which keeps it from tipping off the scale, which is what can happen when we get stressed. The scale can also be tipped in favor of the inferior function under stress, and we start to judge ourselves and who we are from our results in the outside world. This is very much the complete opposite of who we really are as INFJs. Negative life experiences often reinforces negative self value, and this is what happens with INFJs that operate to much in their inferior function. You start to forget who you are and your own value. You forget one of the most special things that you have as an INFJ which is emotional health, morals and values which are pure and unaffected by the external world. Because we all know that you cannot change the opinion of an INFJ, and you cannot force us to believe in anything we don’t.

To wrap this all up I want to share some tips concerning emotional health. If you often struggle with anxiety, negative self thoughts and fears, it is important to remember one thing. You are not your thoughts. The brain is an organ like any other in the body. The heart pumps blood, the stomach digest food and the brain creates thoughts. It is it’s sole function and you cannot stop it from happening. What you can do on the other hand is understand this process and that just because the thoughts are there and pass by in your mind, doesn’t mean they are true.

To master your emotions you need to master your mind. The key to this is mindfulness practise. Here is a book I highly  recommend to get started with mindfulness:

The post INFJ Mental Disorders, Health & Emotional Sensitivity appeared first on INFJ Ramblings.

The notion that science and technology interests are more common for thinking types then feelers is widely know. In many cases this is very much true but concerning INFJs I think this is a misconception. In many case INFJs can be even more interested in these kinds of subjects then thinking types and even more then our thinking type equivalent INTJs. 

The notion that these kind of subjects only interests thinking types I think is very wrong. Thinking types tend to be more rational and logical in their thinking and therefore find things with these types of outcomes more appealing since they make sense for them. Thinking types of course have feeling functions as well to some regard, just as feeler types have thinking functions. When it comes to INFJs we have introverted intuition as our primary function which can also act rational and logical in it’s way of navigating and finding solutions to things. The difference is that instead of seeing just the logical solution like thinking types, we get to see it from all the other angles as well.   

When it comes to picking your profession I think as an INFJ you should not turn away from thinking type professions just because you are primarily a feeler. In many ways it is only better because then you bring a whole set of different skills to the table that others do not, and you can also understand the rational and logical parts as needed. Being   introverted intuition dominants we function on many different levels and we easily comprehend others systems since we are system builders at the core. This is one reason why people say that INFJs can seem to have multiple personalities and not just one, we adapt and learn because we approach everything at it’s core, and not only through an rational and logical lens. We are fluid learners.

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to how rare INFJ types are in MBTI. In this post I want to discuss the INFJ enneagram and how Type 5 Enneagram relates to INFJs.

After reading about it for  some time I have come to the conclusion that MBTI is brain functioning and Enneagram is about morals and values in life. In combination they can describe a person good and compliment each other well.

There also seems to be a correlation between MBTI types and Enneagram types to a certain degree. Here is some interesting reading concerning this subject:

Enneagram Type Test On-Line Stats:
http://www.9types.com/rheti/stats.html

Table of Enneagram Marriage Frequencies:
http://www.9types.com/writeup/enneagram_marriages.html

Enneagram Type and MBTI Type Compared (Statistics):
http://personalitycafe.com/enneagram-personality-theory-forum/85323-enneagram-type-mbti-type-compared-statistics.html

This is a great book explaining everything you need to know about Enneagram, highly recommended:
The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types

I’ve also done a bunch of Enneagram tests myself and recently bought the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator test which is a scientifically validated test for testing your Enneagram type. You can find it here: http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/

My results concerning my own Enneagram type is that I’m a 5w4. Here is some information about the 5w4 type that I’ve copied:

5w4 – The Five with a Four-Wing: “The Iconoclast”

 

The traits of the Five and those of the Four reinforce each other in many ways. Both Five and Four are withdrawn types: they turn to the inner world of their imagination to defend their egos and to reinforce their sense of self.

They both feel that something essential in themselves must be found before they can live their lives completely. Fives lack the confidence to act, and Fours lack a strong, stable sense of identity. Thus, Fives with a Four-wing have difficulty connecting with others and staying grounded.

People of this subtype are more emotional and introverted than Fives with a Six-wing, althrough paradoxically, they tend to be more sociable than the other subtype. As a result of their Four component, they are also more interested in the personal and intrapsychic.

The two types also have some significant differences in their approach. Fives are cerebral, holding experience at arm’s length, while Fours internalize everything to intensify their feelings.

Despite these differences–or because of them–these two personality types make one of the richest subtypes, combining possibilities for outstanding artistic as well as intellectual achievement.

Notewothy examples of  5w4 Enneagram subtype include:
Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenburg, Friedrich Nietzsche, Georgia O’Keeffe, John Cage, John Lennon, k. d. lang, Laurie Anderson, James Joyce, Emily Dickinson, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, Buster Keaton, Gary Larson, Stephen King, Tim Burton, Clive Barker, Franz Kafka, Umberto Eco, Jean-Paul Sartre, Oriana Fallaci, Glenn Gould, Peter Serkin, Hannah Arendt, Kurt Cobain, and Vincent van Gogh.

In healthy people of Enneagram 5w4 subtype:

We find the union of intuition and knowledge, sensitivity and insight, aesthetic appreciation and intellectual endowments.

Fives with a Four-wing are likely to be involved in the arts as writers, directors, designers, musicians, composers, choreographers, and so forth. The subtype has been somewhat overlooked in many descriptions of Fives because they do not fit the stereotype of the academic/scientific Five (the Five with a Six-wing).

This subtype is more synthetic in its thinking, pulling things together and seeking out new ways of looking at things, Also, Fives with a Four-wing tend to utilize their imaginations more than the analytic, systematic parts of the mind which are more the domain of the other subtype.

If they are involved in science, Fives with a Four-wing are drawn to those areas in which there is less emphasis on experimentation and data collection than on intuition and comprehensive vision.

This subtype is particularly aware of–and on the lookout for–the beauty in a mathematical formula, for example. For this subtype, beauty is one of the indications of truth, because the order which beauty represents is a confirmation of the objective rightness of an idea.

One of the foremost strengths of healthy Fives with a Four-wing lies precisely in their intuition, since intuition helps them uncover areas of knowledge where their conscious thoughts have not yet ventured. The

Four-wing adds a desire to find a unique, personal vision to the curiosity and perceptiveness of the Five, and the result is a propensity to “tinker” with familiar forms until they become something almost unrecognizable.

In talented Fives with a Four-wing this can lead to startling innovations in their chosen fields of endeavor.

In Average Fives with a Four-wing, Enneagram 5w4:

The Four-wing adds emotional depth, but causes difficulties in sustaining efforts and in working with others. Fives with a Four-wing are more independent than Fives with a Six-wing and resist having structures and deadlines imposed on them.

There can be an off-putting detachment from the environment, both because they are involved in their thoughts and because they are introverted and emotionally self-absorbed.

Analytic powers may be used to keep people at arm’s length rather than to understand them more deeply. Emotionally delicate, people of this subtype can be moody and hypersensitive to criticism, particularly regarding the value of their work or ideas, since this impinges directly upon self-esteem.

Both component types tend to withdraw from people and be reclusive. They can be highly creative and imaginative, envisioning alternate realities in great detail, but can get lost in their own cerebral landscapes.

The Four-wing gives a propensity to fantasizing, but with the Five with the Four-wing, the subject matter tends toward the surreal and fantastic rather than the romantic. Individuals of this subtype can become highly impractical, spending most of their time reading, playing intellectual games, or specializing in trivia.

There is often an attraction to dark, forbidden subject matter or to any way of self-expression which would disturb or upset others. Some Fives with a Four-wing become fascinated with the macabre and the horrific.

As they become more impractical and fearful about their possibilities in life, one typical solution is to find emotional solace in various forms of self-indulgence–in alcohol, drugs, or sexual escapades.

Unhealthy persons of 5w4 Enneagram subtype:

May fall prey to debilitating depressions yet be disturbed by aggressive impulses. Envy of others mixes with contempt for them; the desire to isolate the self from the world mixes with regret that it must be so.

Intellectual conflicts make their emotional lives seem hopeless, while their emotional conflicts make intellectual work difficult to sustain. Moreover, if this subtype becomes neurotic, it is one of the most alienated of all of the personality types: profoundly hopeless, nihilistic, self-inhibiting, isolated from others, and full of self-hatred.

Unhealthy Fives with a Four-wing retreat into a very bleak, minimal existence, attempting to cut off from all needs. The self-rejection and dispair of the Four combines with the cynical nihilism of the Five to create a worldview that is relentlessly negative and terrifying. Social isolation, addiction, and chronic depression are common. Suicide is a real possibility.

I can relate to a lot of this and have definitely experienced the unhealthy aspect of it. I’m very introverted and intuitive, the intuitive aspect of my personality brings me my HSP sensitivities and introversion amplifies them.

I tend to have to withdraw often to recharge and struggle to keep control of my feelings. I’m detached from reality and experience feelings of disembodied from reality on a daily basis, I think this is what feeds my need to use my Se function since it grounds me in reality.

I’m predominately a feeler in my values and morals but I’m stuck in my mind thinking all the time. Interested in science, psychology, technology, paranormal subjects and tend to lean towards the mystical instead of rational.

I like to investigate and understand the world around me and as a child I used to break things apart and put them back together again to understand how they worked. Always had a big imagination and love the arts. I studied programming growing up and was good at it but ended up working
with digital arts and media because I enjoy that even more.
Probably because it also feeds my inferior function Se as an INFJ, for both good and worse. When I’m stressed I can be very self indulgent and neurotic, isolating myself from the world both in my mind and externally.

Here are some results from cognitive tests I’ve done recently, I feel that I di
ffer somewhat from other INFJs and in some aspects are similar to INFPs. But as you can se my Si inferior is very poorly developed as INFJs/INTJs. If anybody else can relate to any of this please feel free to comment!

http://www.keys2cognition.com/explore.htm

Cognitive Process	Level of Development (Preference, Skill and Frequency of Use)
extraverted Sensing (Se)	*******************  (19.3) limited use
introverted Sensing (Si)	**********  (10.2) unused
extraverted Intuiting (Ne)	**************************************  (38.5) excellent use
introverted Intuiting (Ni)	***************************************  (39.6) excellent use
extraverted Thinking (Te)	*********************************  (33.5) good use
introverted Thinking (Ti)	*****************************  (29.6) average use
extraverted Feeling (Fe)	*************************************  (37.3) excellent use
introverted Feeling (Fi)	********************************  (32.2) good use

http://cognitivequiz.com/quiz.html

Your Cognitive Functions:

Introverted Intuition (Ni) |||||||||||||||||||||||| 11.29

Extroverted Intuition (Ne) ||||||||||||||||||||||| 10.58

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) |||||||||||||||||| 8.07

Introverted Feeling (Fi) ||||||||||||| 5.85

Extroverted Thinking (Te) ||||||| 2.93

Introverted Thinking (Ti) ||| 0.69

Extroverted Sensation (Se) || -2.2

Introverted Sensation (Si) |||| -3.23

Your Extroverted Intuition (Ne) is very developed.

Your Introverted Intuition (Ni) is very developed.

Your Introverted Thinking (Ti) is moderate.

Your Extroverted Thinking (Te) is moderate.

Your Extroverted Feeling (Fe) is moderate.

Your Introverted Feeling (Fi) is moderate.

Your Extroverted Sensation (Se) is low.

Your Introverted Sensation (Si) is low.

Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test™

Your Type INFJ

Introvert(78%)  iNtuitive(100%)  Feeling(88%)  Judging(33%)

• You have strong preference of Introversion over Extraversion (78%)
• You have strong preference of Intuition over Sensing (100%)
• You have strong preference of Feeling over Thinking (88%)
• You have moderate preference of Judging over Perceiving (33%)

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