The Hardest Type to be in The Enneagram

[Lady Lazarus]

Not necessarily. I doubt an E9 would describe what they are being difficult (unless very unhealthy and in a dissociative state). Going with the flow and with others' wishes all the time is a very easy way of making life pass by.

Necessarily. Being that your portrayal of nine seems to be lacking in any of the essential perspective/reasons behind the external/resultant manifestations of the type as per: "I doubt an E9 would describe what they are being difficult", "going with the flow and with others' wishes all the time", and "making life pass by", I recommend The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram.

 

[Justmeonhere]

Uhm, I think six is the hardest type. The pain with trusting others and anxiety...it's really difficult. My mother is a phobic 6w7 and she suffers anxiety so much. The whole phobic and counterphobic thing is a bit difficult as well. Ithink that for a six who is guilty about his anxiety it'd be very hard, approaching enneagram, know that there's this distinction too! A four can stand it because it adds impact on their unique personality but the six'd say " Why every ennatype has a streng and my not?" At first it'd seem that sixs haven't good unique caracthers but looking well their loyaltyand ability to question everything is really good! So 6 friends don't hate your type, you are great like everyone else!

 

[erg]

Necessarily. Being that your portrayal of nine seems to be lacking in any of the essential perspective/reasons behind the external/resultant manifestations of the type as per: "I doubt an E9 would describe what they are being difficult", "going with the flow and with others' wishes all the time", and "making life pass by", I recommend The Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram.

Sorry, I'm a donkey. I don't read books :O.

 

[ceecee]

The one you are.

Nah.

Not gonna lie. Being an 8 is pretty awesome. Sucks to suck, brah.

This. It's not hard to be an 8.

 

[Coriolis]

This. It's not hard to be an 8.

That seems reasonable. I don't find it hard to be a 5, unless I try to be something else.

 

[á´…eparted]

Being a 1 is like being an over tightened piano wire. It sucks, but you get used to it. To others though when they see the internals of it, they're often like " dude... chill. That can't be good for you".

When it's all you know, it's all you know.

 

[Obfuscate]

Not necessarily. I doubt an E9 would describe what they are being difficult (unless very unhealthy and in a dissociative state). Going with the flow and with others' wishes all the time is a very easy way of making life pass by.

just so people can inform you that you are wrong... "e9 is the most difficult"... 'cause reasons... good reasons...

Being a four, I can attest to it being the hardest type to be. Closely followed by 5.

Seeing through everything. Spotting fakeness and lies from a mile away and not being able to bear them. Wanting to make sense of world thatare doesn't make sense. Wanting to feel love desperately, but being unable to receive it. Feeling flawed and deeply damaged like a discarded object. Knowing what somebody is feeling by just looking at them, or at times just by being near them. At the same time, not understading emotionality. Wanting to make an impact on the world but feeling fate is stacked against you. Not being able to kill a cockroach that enter your house, because you know, it's a living being? Etc.

you are describing things that Could apply to many inXp... in fact, i bet many of those things apply for many types... perceiving a shitty world isn't the exclusive domain of any type...

 

[Dyslexxie]

Being a 1 is like being an over tightened piano wire. It sucks, but you get used to it. To others though when they see the internals of it, they're often like " dude... chill. That can't be good for you".

When it's all you know, it's all you know.

I would think being a 1 would be one of the more difficult types because of the standard to which you hold yourselves and everyone too. I can see being a 6 would also be very difficult having to always be strong and dedicated and just "there". I can see that becoming a draining factor if you're in the wrong environment. Or maybe that's my lack of understanding of it/my type bias at play?

Being a 3, 8, or 7 is pretty easy overall. 3 is probably the hardest out of them because of how we measure ourselves against arbitrary "wins", and being an 8 is only hard if you're in a position where you feel powerless or if it becomes destructive (and sometimes I do get slightly malicious just because I can), but a 7 is like the happy go lucky card in my back pocket where nothing can go wrong. I think if 7 was my main type I would be way more relaxed as a person, but because of 3 and 8 sometimes I just want to watch the world burn.

 

[cascadeco]

I don't think any of the types have an easier time of it with this thing called life, but I DO think the inward more withdrawn /mentally focused types are more focused on not having an easy time of it. Vs the more outward ones (3, 7, and 8 especially, maybe 1 and 2 if less introspective) I think can more easily distract themselves or cover things up with external actions.

 

[Gone]

Not necessarily. I doubt an E9 would describe what they are being difficult (unless very unhealthy and in a dissociative state). Going with the flow and with others' wishes all the time is a very easy way of making life pass by.

That is exactly the point. We're vegetating. That's pretty easy, I agree. But it sucks. Seriously, who only wants to vegetate?
It's hard to live as a 9.


Not gonna say we have it worst but it's no rose garden over here as well.
In general I agree with this:

I don't think any of the types have an easier time of it with this thing called life, but I DO think the inward more withdrawn /mentally focused types are more focused on not having an easy time of it. Vs the more outward ones (3, 7, and 8 especially, maybe 1 and 2 if less introspective) I think can more easily distract themselves or cover things up with external actions.

 

[Amargith]

Life as a 4 isn't easy, but I couldn't imagine being any other type.

Being a 4 can be incredibly rewarding, and then the pendulum swings, and it just...clobbers the hell out of you.

Rinse and repeat

Transcend the pain.

Imperfect Perfection

 

[magpie]

Six is not the hardest type to be. It's a walk in the park. I think we should all let the fours wallow happily in their suffering by telling them they suffer most.

 

[Amargith]

It is interesting to see this thread though...people are very much approaching this question according to their type

While it's a cool demo, it also means that 9s are likely to underplay their pain since it matters not, supposedly, 8s are likely to brush it off, due to school of life effect, etc etc

Which means we might never now the objective answer.

And tbh, I think each type suffers about equally in their own way

 

[Galena]

Six is not the hardest type to be. It's a walk in the park. I think we should all let the fours wallow happily in their suffering by telling them they suffer most.

I don't suffer because my type is inherently hard to be; I suffer when I do it to myself. This does not warrant anybody's enabling.

 

[jkall]

4s are probably the type that suffer the most.

4s are the type that suffer the most as they are fixated on the incompleteness, absence, painfulness in life. All types have this. That's why they suffer. But the 4s are fixated in it all the damn time. And they can't look away, unless they grow and we know that costs a lot to everyone. (I'm not sure I'm a 4 myself, btw)

 

[thepink-cloakedninja]

This is a very old thread, but it's interesting ... so I'll join in with jkall in resurrecting it. Maybe.

I cannot speak for the other types since I don't know what it's like to be them, but I agree with the OP that being a 2 is pretty easy. I've had my share of being tossed around by life, but the positive outlook of 2 has been very helpful in getting me back on a nice track.

I find I like 269 very much, as it makes it so that most people like me, but I still remain a bit unnoticeable and in the background. This tends to make it so that people treat me nicely, but because I come across as nonthreatening and am not popular, they usually don't try to put me down to advance themselves, compete with me, or try to draw me into drama. The downside of coming across as very sweet, peaceful, and nonthreatening is that sometimes people try to take advantage of me, and because I'm conflict avoidant, I sometimes let them to a certain point because I'd just rather not make a fuss and it's usually not a big deal to me.

Also, because I tend to be liked, but in the background, I can accidentally find myself friends with people on opposite social sides, which can be awkward if they start trash talking each other to me. I usually just try to tell them that I dislike talking about people behind their backs.

I also give off a good first impression to potential employers as sweet, peppy, responsible, and honorable that has been very useful in landing jobs, though just entry level ones. I've had hiring managers tell me they instantly liked my personality.

Some of the 2-specific struggles I have are people being drawn to my initial warmth, but then, when I open up to them, are deterred by finding I'm a bit sad and serious inside. I also have that common 2 weakness of getting too invested in others' lives, which can leave me exhausted and empty.

From my experience, I'd say that 2 can be an easy type to be, but whether or not being a 2 is easy for others would depend on the individual, his or her level of health, as well as gender (it's easier for a female to be a 2 as society can pressure females who aren't 2s to act like one, anyways).

 

[great_bay]

ESXX have given me trouble to type.

 

[Forever]

The more I meditate on which e type suffers the most, even MBTI type, I'm seeing this as the situation you're in. To some degree, you make life as difficult you want to be. 4 may be easily thought as "well they want to know what it means to suffer" then by an internal standard. They're not living the hardest if we go by the definition of suffering against our wishes and desires.

By any e type being unaware to their self defeating motivations, they may feel as if no one out there really gets what they're going through.

Just my couple of pennies.

 

[Ashtart]

I have to admit that I've only read a couple of posts on this thread but here is my opinion: I think 6 is a really hard type to be. They suffer from anxiety and many sorts of phobias, feel strong need for security, tend to always be fearful of disaster and worst case scenarios. These things are really draining and hard to deal with. All of the 6 profile seem quite painful.
I assume that many people in this thread said that 4s have it the hardest, but I personally doubt it. 4s tend to find beauty and sadness and even in pain. Of course they aren't (generally speaking) masochists, but they are well equipped with pain coping skills. So I don't think it is (from a suffering point of view) the hardest type to be.
I also happen to think that 5s and 1s, because of their logical nature may have an easier pass, as they can distantiate themselves from pain with more ease. 5s more than 1s, I presume.

 

[Ashtart]

Life as a 4 isn't easy, but I couldn't imagine being any other type.

Being a 4 can be incredibly rewarding, and then the pendulum swings, and it just...clobbers the hell out of you.

Rinse and repeat

Transcend the pain.

Imperfect Perfection

That is the most 4ish sentence I've read for the past week or so, haha.