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Therapy from Mental Illness changed my type?

miss_hap

New member
Joined
Apr 27, 2014
Messages
30
MBTI Type
eSTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
Let me explain.. First time I was typed was 5 years back; I was 16 and had dealt with anxiety/depression since I was young (ran in my family). By 18 I did CBT for Borderline Personality Disorder. At the time I was typed ENFP/INFP (My E/I is always pretty borderline). However, for about a year I did CBT and took time to really "get to know" myself. The things she taught me were
1. To be more aware of my environment and I did exercises/continue to do them so that I am living in the here and now. The exercises had me focus on sensory information since I would get carried away with anxious/paranoid thoughts, especially about the future.
2. Rational thinking!! I am not saying I am a robot now, but if I have irrational feelings, I get rid of them immediately. Also, I have smaller patience for others with irrational thinking/feelings. I see fallacies and errors in others' irrational thoughts/feelings because I was taught how to see them in my own self. So, now that I have explained that..

Has anyone else experienced this with a mental illness or anger management, anything? I am not saying that NF types are mentally unstable or whatever but perhaps my personal illness overshadowed my true self. Or, I could have just learned my way into a new type. Regardless, I am curious as to others' opinions on this topic.

Side note: I paired medication with CBT, but its an antidepressant so I do not think that had any drastic effect on my personality.

Fire away.
 

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
It's possible, I really believe it is. Others are going to disagree with me. That's ok
 

five sounds

MyPeeSmellsLikeCoffee247
Joined
Jul 17, 2013
Messages
5,393
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
729
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
yeah i think it's possible too. when i was less healthy, i bet i would have typed as like ISTJ.

glad you're better now!
 

á´…eparted

passages
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
8,265
Considering that one's brain is developing until around the age of 25 or so, it makes sense for a persons type to "change" up until that point, and maybe even beyond. I don't see it as type changing, but settling into your self and coming into your own. Once we're comfortable (as much as we can be anyway) in our own skin is when our type will be accurate.

As per mental illness, that definitely has an effect. I had (and still have) issues with depression, and it colored myself perception quite heavily since I was a teenager, and a bit into my 20's (I'll be 25 this month). So much so that I thought I was an introvert for a long time (and in hindsight the idea that I'm an introvert is completely silly). I'd hesitate to call it a type change, but a shift in perspective.

Really, your true type is best figured out from what you're like in a neutral/happy state of mind and being.
 

Lily Bart

Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
136
MBTI Type
INFP
In typing my kids and their friends, I'd say type is pretty well set by the time your a teenager unless parents or others that exert significant influence on you pressure you to use functions that they prefer but may not be your own natural strongest functions. Dominant Sensors or Thinkers may encourage you to be less imaginative or emotional because those are functions that don't work well for them, but it may not be in your best interests to focus on using functions that don't come easily to you. That being said, I'm also a bit skeptical about a personality test that can't tell you if you're an introvert or an extrovert. You can't be both. You can be a very social introvert, which is common in IxFx types or an antisocial extrovert -- some ENTx's can be like this. True psychological health lies in recognizing who you are,facing up to the fact that other people may not necessarily admire or support you when you act according to your own needs and beliefs, and then living your own life on your own terms no matter what the rest of the world throws at you.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,187
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Less of a type change, more of just moving towards a more "natural" expression of your personality.

Sounds like you had a bundle of coping mechanisms meant to help you work through internal anxieties in your life; and once you realigned how you viewed the world and yourself and others and those anxieties disappeared or dwindled, then you were free to do what came naturally for you.
 
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