[Traditional Enneagram] Question for 6s

[hjgbujhghg]

I think there is a 6 in my tritype, but I think I do experience anxiety slightly differently than the regular stereotype of enneagram 6. I just wonder whether anyone can relate to this...
6s usually expect the worst to come or happen, so I'd imagine most of people of this type are rather prepared for such situations and are more careful than other types. In my case, it's more like, I do expect the worst to come, but I always fight such thoughts and push them in the background of my mind. I sort of just sit and hope things will sort themselves after all. So even though I expect the worst to come, I can basically totally ignore it until the anxiety overwhelms me and I get an unexpected panic attack, or feel really anxious for no visible cause. All this stuff kind of stays in my unconscious mind, until it totally blows up. Even though I do have to deal with anxious thoughts a lot, they always are more of a future and abstract fears.
Can anyone relate to this?

 

[thoughtlost]

I think there is a 6 in my tritype, but I think I do experience anxiety slightly differently than the regular stereotype of enneagram 6. I just wonder whether anyone can relate to this...
6s usually expect the worst to come or happen, so I'd imagine most of people of this type are rather prepared for such situations and are more careful than other types. In my case, it's more like, I do expect the worst to come, but I always fight such thoughts and push them in the background of my mind. I sort of just sit and hope things will sort themselves after all. So even though I expect the worst to come, I can basically totally ignore it until the anxiety overwhelms me and I get an unexpected panic attack, or feel really anxious for no visible cause. All this stuff kind of stays in my unconscious mind, until it totally blows up. Even though I do have to deal with anxious thoughts a lot, they always are more of a future and abstract fears.
Can anyone relate to this?

Well, it's not 100% sure that I am 6 ...but I am that if I am not a 9 (which I don't think I am.... so I am a 6 lol).

I don't think that is how 6ishness works. It's not simply about freaking out and thinking the worst. It's also not about being overly prepared about things (many different types can express being organized/prepared for disasters/methodical/whatever you want to call it). At least, that is not how it is for me. Being a 6, for me, is about lacking faith in general. How that plays out in me is getting really sad/depressed when I see people being selfish and only thinking about themselves. It scares me that I live in a world where people are blind to each other. That is actually what drives me to understand human complexities.

As a core 6, I do not relate to your description about how you experience your 6. It's not about expecting the worst (maybe because I have a wing 7), but ...I just like using my mind no matter what. Instead of facing the world head on... I face it in my head/imagination. So for example, instead of making real friends, I imagine what it would be like to have a best friend. I imagine what it's like moving a new place or work at a new job. It's not that I have anxious thoughts... I just have an over-active mind; it's just that I am always dissatisfied with life because it never matches my imaginations/hopes.

In terms of being more careful ...we're not more careful than any other type. Cafeful-ness really depends on the individual 6. I am a 6 and many people would NOT call me careful... at all. I am downright forgetful. I seriously live in a fantasy-land and don't pay attention to mundane things, not because I am expecting the worst... but who cares about taxes and exams and ....legal/adult-like stuff (am I right?) so I just procrastinate (and my procrastination is worse when I think things will be easy to accomplish). After I take the exam or the external event has passed... I am back in la-la-land. I do freak out about germs in public places and not locking the door, though (but not in the sense that I get a panic attack ...I just simply lock the door... and then check it 3 times before I hope on the bus because I'll feel bad if someone stole my roommate stuff ...I don't care about my stuff).

I know another 6 who is not a visibly anxious person and doesn't get panic attacks (cause being a six is not about panic attacks in the pathological sense), but she is sure about how she will handle her life and if something comes up she doesn't really fret (I mean, she can, but she acts quickly and it's not like she is mumbling ball of anxiety ...she'll just simply gather the information she needs and solves an issue).

 

[Entropic]

Well, it's not 100% sure that I am 6 ...but I am that if I am not a 9 (which I don't think I am.... so I am a 6 lol).

I don't think that is how 6ishness works. It's not simply about freaking out and thinking the worst. It's also not about being overly prepared about things (many different types can express being organized/prepared for disasters/methodical/whatever you want to call it). At least, that is not how it is for me. Being a 6, for me, is about lacking faith in general. How that plays out in me is getting really sad/depressed when I see people being selfish and only thinking about themselves. It scares me that I live in a world where people are blind to each other. That is actually what drives me to understand human complexities.

As a core 6, I do not relate to your description about how you experience your 6. It's not about expecting the worst (maybe because I have a wing 7), but ...I just like using my mind no matter what. Instead of facing the world head on... I face it in my head/imagination. So for example, instead of making real friends, I imagine what it would be like to have a best friend. I imagine what it's like moving a new place or work at a new job. It's not that I have anxious thoughts... I just have an over-active mind; it's just that I am always dissatisfied with life because it never matches my imaginations/hopes.

In terms of being more careful ...we're not more careful than any other type. Cafeful-ness really depends on the individual 6. I am a 6 and many people would NOT call me careful... at all. I am downright forgetful. I seriously live in a fantasy-land and don't pay attention to mundane things, not because I am expecting the worst... but who cares about taxes and exams and ....legal/adult-like stuff (am I right?) so I just procrastinate (and my procrastination is worse when I think things will be easy to accomplish). After I take the exam or the external event has passed... I am back in la-la-land. I do freak out about germs in public places and not locking the door, though (but not in the sense that I get a panic attack ...I just simply lock the door... and then check it 3 times before I hope on the bus because I'll feel bad if someone stole my roommate stuff ...I don't care about my stuff).

I know another 6 who is not a visibly anxious person and doesn't get panic attacks (cause being a six is not about panic attacks in the pathological sense), but she is sure about how she will handle her life and if something comes up she doesn't really fret (I mean, she can, but she acts quickly and it's not like she is mumbling ball of anxiety ...she'll just simply gather the information she needs and solves an issue).

This is a great post imo. 6 is definitely more about using the mind to solve problems so in the light of something happening, 6s ssimply try to envision all its various outcomes because they think that if they know how bad it will be, at least they know what to come and whether they can overcome it or not (6s fear that they won't, assuming that they are never quite strong enough). 6 isn't about general anxiety or the like, but it's being in tune with the existential dilemma of what it means to be alive because one perceives how transparent life is. It's a lack of faith in what will last or that things will last, especially the good. A lack of faith in accepting that things will always turn out for the best in the end. 6s also seem to have a lot of sadness about this.

 

[Midoughni]

If I have concerns regarding possible complications, but the stakes are low, I sometimes will choose to say "F it" and just put myself through the experience in order to gain knowledge and a greater sense of self-efficacy to arm myself with in the future. In this way, I do relate to what you're saying. I could still have anxiety, but at that point, I'm worried more that those thoughts are going to hold me back, so I ignore them. To me, nothing is ever as simple as others present it, which is a sentiment that I think is shared by most 6s. However, while the foreseen future can sometimes make the 6 anxious, it is just a result of their mental nature. Anyone can have anxiety, but for those with this enneagram type, it is their default mode to constantly internalize assumptions and examine them and test them out mentally, even their own judgments. This can obviously raise questions in their minds and create doubt. It is not necessarily due to low self-esteem or paranoia. I play out everything in my imagination before I let it happen, but I will only prepare for the situation if the potential consequences are realistic and if it is worth the additional effort to do so. I think the people who are overly cautious and the most anxious are the ones who never take any risks. When you reside inside your mind instead of experiencing the real world, your assessment of reality can become skewed.