Personality Type And Depression

[saria2000 1]

Wow, so many I's..

I got ENFJ.

[MrAlex 1]

help me

[Lisa15 211]

Lisa15- Yeah I think I do. I find that whenever I don't put on a show for people almost, nobody gets me. I come across as shy and awkward. So then I become really animated and excited, and people like me a lot more. It's still me, just a very hyper version of me. Is that what you're talking about?

I also took the test many many times, always came up INFJ, even before I understood the results. Didn't stop me from accusing myself of stacking the deck towards the type I wanted though. I'm proud to be INFJ :)

I also am proud to be INFJ. And yes, for the most part I guess it's still me, but a hyper version of me. I care passionately about people, and I think I'm a good listener, which is from being INFJ, I guess. But the introvert really comes through in that when I'm done being with people, I'm really DONE being with people. I need time to be alone, recharge and reflect.

[Lisa15 211]

INFJ

Introverted 73%

Intuitive 65%

Feeling 70%

Judging 52%

These percentages could be wrong, done from memory. There is definitely a disproportionate amount of INFJs here, considering we're supposedly 1% of the population.

Actually, thinking about it, I think the introversion might have been higher, I'm not sure.

You didn't fail to make the point at all - you're absolutely right. INFJ's like myself are drawn to help other people, and yet because we are introverts, we also require "alone time." This can lead to a real disconnect for us that easily triggers depression.

I've taken the Myers-Briggs numerous times over my life, and I'm always an INFJ. I had a shrink one time tell me that I was lying about my true self after he evaluated my MB results for entrance into candidacy for ministry. He said that I lied on the test because in his opinion I was really an introvert. Well, needless to say that hurt me deeply as I've always been a very truthful person (not bragging, more that I just don't see the point of lying). Well, I removed myself from candidacy then but started the process again about five years later. Took the MB test again and had it evaluated by a different shrink. This time the shrink actually got it. He said that I am definitely an INFJ, but that to get along in life I've had to modify my behavior to appear to be extroverted. This is so totally true of me, and it gave me a revelation about my depression. In my daily dealings in life, I put on a mask because I have to, but it is not the real me. So this creates that disconnect that leads to depression. I don't see this as being deceptive, though, because we live in an extroverted world, and I've come to understand that if I'm going to live authentically as an INFJ who deeply cares about others, then I have to demonstrate that caring as an extrovert. Does this make sense to you?

That makes COMPLETE sense! By the end of the day, I'm exhausted! I know most people who work full-time are generally exhausted after a hard day's work, but I'm exhausted due to having to be an extremely social person who doesn't get any alone time throughout the day - not even sitting behind a computer doing work by myself. For me, this is part of what leads me to my depression. I love my job of being a behavioral therapist to children with problem behaviors to help them & their families live a better quality of life, but it sucks the energy out of me by having to constantly being social.

I've also noticed that I'm kind of drawn to look for the sad things in life at times. I've gotten better at looking at more positive scenarios, but it's difficult for me. Perhaps this is a way for me to vent or a form to release my anxiety from being an extrovert???

Is there a way you can schedule in time for a break, even if only for a half hour, in the midst of your therapy schedule? I think as a therapist you'd burn out before long if you don't. As a minister-in-training, I know I'd go bonkers if I didn't get any time alone during the day. And sometimes that is the case. But at least during my internship, I have a long commute into work, so I try to use that time to recharge.

[Lisa15 211]

mtclmbr gal- I totally relate to that worn down state at the end of the day, I hate it. As for the sadness part, it's not a way to vent or release anxiety for me, since it does the opposite. I think I am drawn to it because it seems more honest, more of a valid way to be. And I want to extend a helping hand to anyone in any state of need, it's a desire to help that borders on obsessive-compulsive. Maybe you're different, I don't know :)

Wow, this describes me so well, Acrowley. Sometimes my desire to help also gets the better of me, but I'm learning to create and observe boundaries. There is only so much a person can do, and if you don't take time and care for yourself, you'll have nothing to give others.

[FloatingButterflyK 2]

INTJ

These tests are always surprisingly accurate for me. Kind of neat. :)

INTJ - The Strategist: INTJs are introspective, analytical, determined persons with natural leadership ability. Being reserved, they prefer to stay in the background while leading. Strategic, knowledgable and adaptable, INTJs are talented in bringing ideas from conception to reality. They expect perfection from themselves as well as others and are comfortable with the leadership of another so long as they are competent. INTJs can also be described as decisive, open-minded, self-confident, attentive, theoretical and pragmatic.

[maisquestcequisepasse 1]

ENFP -- large emphasis on the F

--

Mais qu'est-ce qui se passe ?

[Lisa15 211]

Just for fun, I decided to take the test again, and yep, I'm still an INFJ:

"You are:

• very expressed introvert
  
• moderately expressed intuitive personality
  
• distinctively expressed feeling personality
  
• very expressed judging personality"
  

[modestmouse_2011 67]

INTJ.

There definitely seems to be a gravitation towards INTJ and INFJ. Which is very interesting considering we make up at most...maybe 3% of the population. I think in the case of INTJ's, since I am one, it is that since we prefer to be reserved, we might not get so much satisfaction with socializing as others. And left to ourselves, we tend to think too much about everything and ponder the world's mysteries which often brings mortality and meaning into question. And we may be may be harder on ourselves.

This is all true for INFJ's as well. I think there's a fine line between the two sometimes. I've almost come up INFJ on some of the tests. But the 'F' involves deeper sensitivity and awareness to emotions. This may cause more extreme moods.

[Blacktears 4]

I am INFP. I am deeply introverted.

[thistoowillpass 25]

ISFP -artist. Very strongly "SF" as opposed to "NT" -- I'm tuned into sense data, how things look and feel and whether the environment and energy is in balance. (I'm also a Libra.) I'm not a highly abstract, intuitive thinker.

[Advy 2]

Wow, so many I's..

I got ENFJ.

Me too,

My personality has changed a lot over the past 2 years, philosophy is a mind altering substance. Though I should score a 100% on all 8 preferences, these are just preferences or relativities of attributes, so I am more intuitive than I am "sensing" which does not mean i am not sensing just that I am more intuitive.

Here is my personality from the "Jung Typology Test":

I have the ability to adapt my expressed personality when I need to, because my actual personality is dynamic and adaptive to the situation

Your Type is

ENFJ

Extraverted 67%

Intuitive 100%

Feeling 12%

Judging 44%

Qualitative analysis of your type formula

You are:

distinctively expressed extravert

very expressed intuitive personality

slightly expressed feeling personality

moderately expressed judging personality

@Saria2000

You can see the link to the wiki on ENFJ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENFJ

Edited June 13, 2012 by Advy

[eveandtonic 1]

Interesting poll. I am the ENFP type.

What I'd like to comment to this is that, what answering the questions is concerned, I constantly had the feeling there's two parts of me; "the real me" and "the depressive me" which would result in different answers. I was constantly struggling, should I answer this as the real or the depressive me.

I totally agree with being extraverted, though. I am even extraverted in being depressed (which can be quite embarassing, looking back to it).

[Brian39 30]

Interesting poll. I am the ENFP type.

What I'd like to comment to this is that, what answering the questions is concerned, I constantly had the feeling there's two parts of me; "the real me" and "the depressive me" which would result in different answers. I was constantly struggling, should I answer this as the real or the depressive me.

I totally agree with being extraverted, though. I am even extraverted in being depressed (which can be quite embarassing, looking back to it).

That is very interesting, I personally do not have any close friends who are extroverted and experience depression, I have wondered if extroverts exerience or express the pain differently than introverts, now I know, Thank you for sharing.

[mtclmbr_gal 15]

INFJ

Introverted 73%

Intuitive 65%

Feeling 70%

Judging 52%

These percentages could be wrong, done from memory. There is definitely a disproportionate amount of INFJs here, considering we're supposedly 1% of the population.

Actually, thinking about it, I think the introversion might have been higher, I'm not sure.

You didn't fail to make the point at all - you're absolutely right. INFJ's like myself are drawn to help other people, and yet because we are introverts, we also require "alone time." This can lead to a real disconnect for us that easily triggers depression.

I've taken the Myers-Briggs numerous times over my life, and I'm always an INFJ. I had a shrink one time tell me that I was lying about my true self after he evaluated my MB results for entrance into candidacy for ministry. He said that I lied on the test because in his opinion I was really an introvert. Well, needless to say that hurt me deeply as I've always been a very truthful person (not bragging, more that I just don't see the point of lying). Well, I removed myself from candidacy then but started the process again about five years later. Took the MB test again and had it evaluated by a different shrink. This time the shrink actually got it. He said that I am definitely an INFJ, but that to get along in life I've had to modify my behavior to appear to be extroverted. This is so totally true of me, and it gave me a revelation about my depression. In my daily dealings in life, I put on a mask because I have to, but it is not the real me. So this creates that disconnect that leads to depression. I don't see this as being deceptive, though, because we live in an extroverted world, and I've come to understand that if I'm going to live authentically as an INFJ who deeply cares about others, then I have to demonstrate that caring as an extrovert. Does this make sense to you?

That makes COMPLETE sense! By the end of the day, I'm exhausted! I know most people who work full-time are generally exhausted after a hard day's work, but I'm exhausted due to having to be an extremely social person who doesn't get any alone time throughout the day - not even sitting behind a computer doing work by myself. For me, this is part of what leads me to my depression. I love my job of being a behavioral therapist to children with problem behaviors to help them & their families live a better quality of life, but it sucks the energy out of me by having to constantly being social.

I've also noticed that I'm kind of drawn to look for the sad things in life at times. I've gotten better at looking at more positive scenarios, but it's difficult for me. Perhaps this is a way for me to vent or a form to release my anxiety from being an extrovert???

Is there a way you can schedule in time for a break, even if only for a half hour, in the midst of your therapy schedule? I think as a therapist you'd burn out before long if you don't. As a minister-in-training, I know I'd go bonkers if I didn't get any time alone during the day. And sometimes that is the case. But at least during my internship, I have a long commute into work, so I try to use that time to recharge.

I'm very burnt out at the moment, and I had to change my hours to only 2 days a week. Most of the time I do get a 1/2 break, but while I work with children with behavioral issues, I also have to watch 8 or 9 other children with only 1 other staff member. Technically, the children that I have to really focus on don't get the full attention that their parents are paying for. My boss just doesn't get it. I'm actually looking at a new job, so I'm going to stick with this until I can find something else. Watching 8-11 three year olds in one room with little help =

[Acrowley 41]

Question for fellow INFJs: The famous INFJ intuition. Is that the part of you that just knows instantly, in any debate or contentious question, what is right. It's like a separate part dedicated to this job, that just instantly snaps to what you know must be right, because there could not be any other option? (this is hard to explain). Does your intuition get you into trouble when discussing things? My friends are Ts, not Fs, so when discussing anything (piracy for example) they make reasonable logical arguments. Whereas I'm trying to think on my feet, because my argument against their protestations of innocence is that my intuition knows, and when I have this feeling, I just know it's right, even if it is hard to explain why.

Hopefully that made some sense to someone, just not the best communicator at times. In case you can't tell, I adore meyers briggs stuff :)

EDIT: Wow, there's definitely a disproportionate amount of INFJs. Question is: does depression simulate INFJ personality for people, do INFJs get depressed more, or are INFJs more interested in this poll than other types.

Lots of Is and Fs.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Acrowley

[chanceus 1]

INFJ here too. Don't know if I like that its a rare type. But that's that. I agree that the type description fits, though rather loosely, into my own description of my personality...which, is comforting, i guess.

Unique connection: my favorite book of all time is INFinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and that book does a good job of explaining me too. I wonder what he was. He was a great author and unfortunately committed suicide as a result of a 20 year battle with depression in 2008. Check him out, has a lot of interesting things to say on depression and then some.

[Lisa15 211]

Here is an interesting link for all you INFJ's out there, it does mention that INFJ's often suffer from bouts of depression for various reasons.

http://personalityjunkie.com/the-infj/

GREAT article! Thanks for the link.

[Advy 2]

I would never say I suffer from depression, I might feel depressed, but I know that my feelings are justified and serve a meaningful purpose. I am ENFJ, my thoughts and conclusion have to do with the external world, I have basically committed suicide to my "SELF" and all that is left is the part that is concerned about the world outside. I try to use a "Veil of ignorance" when thinking about the world, meaning I think from the perspective of what is best for the whole world rather than for me or certain things in the world.

I know that the autobiography by Nelson Mandela might have altered my personality significantly, it made me care a lot more about the world. That leader of South Africa really cared and expressed his feelings and thoughts very well. I just wanted to give some insight as to why I think my personality has evolved from being introverted.

Acrowley is trying to interpret these results of the poll. I think the reasons for the results are a little of everything he mentioned, like thinking people are more likely to see how depressing the world is and are more likely to care enough about the world to take this poll.

To answer his question: I do have a 100% preference for intuition over sensing, because I believe that thinking and rationalizing provide better and more useful explanations of phenomena in the world than does sensing. I took a class in perception so I know that perception is often flawed so we must check our senses with reason and past experiences. I use reason, experience, speculative and analytic thinking, and sometimes feelings to make decisions, but I never make decisions on only one authority, that would be irresponsible.

My own question to discuss would be: Which preferences are most useful when making decisions in the world. What type of thinking should we prefer? Which thinking method is most effective in producing good results for the world? Because some day we might have to decide how exactly we want AI (Artificial Intelligence) to think and behave to take over after us when we die. What values and behavior will we value enough to embody forever and inoculate the cosmos with.

[Brian39 30]

ADVY, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. You articulate things very well in terms of being able to give me a glimpse of how you "and maybe even other ENFJ's" experience feeling depressed from time to time.

[trailer 12]

Here's an interesting exercise:

I have been reading the Personality Junkie site and now I seem to be getting different results than when I took the test somewhere else. I'm confused about what type I am and I may have inputted my own biases when I do the tests. So I think if someone else who knows me could tell me what personality type they think I am, it could be more accurate.

Just curious, I know I'm fairly new but if anyone has read my posts, what personality type do you think I am (if there is one)?

You don't have to do this for me, maybe you could guess another member's personality type if you've seen a lot of their posts.

Edited June 19, 2012 by trailer

[ScubaSteve 1]

I got an INTP personality type. It's interesting to see most of us fall into the Introverted spectrum, but hardly surprising. I think that depression and comorbid conditions resulting in lowered self confidence and self worth would make the most outspoken person an introvert. However, I don't think that results from this test are set in stone. I've gotten many different results depending on where I am in my life.

[Megan286 87]

WOAH.

It's so interesting that INFJ's are the most rare personality type, accounting for one percent of the population, but the INFJ's are the most common people in this poll. Correlation, anyone?

"INFJ - The Confidant: INFJs, making up an estimated 1% of all people, are the most rare type (males even more so). "

Edited June 26, 2012 by Megan286

[depressedazn 1]

I've been doing these personality tests many times and always resulted to INTJ. One thing I notice is that I become leaning toward INFJ when Im in depression. When I was in a good mood and focus only in money and career, I was really ruthless and emotionless. But currently, I pay more attention to and sympathize to the troubles of other people since I just realized Im a sufferer too.

And seems its true that when INFJ. ITNJ and INFP are the rarest types, we are the most likely to suffer depression.

[perse 6]

INFJ

• You have distinctive preference of Introversion over Extraversion (67%)
  
• You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (38%)
  
• You have distinctive preference of Feeling over Thinking (62%)
  
• You have moderate preference of Judging over Perceiving (44%)
  

Edited August 1, 2012 by perse