[NF] NF's how rapidly do your emotions change from moment to moment?

[BerberElla]

I wish I could say that mine were less random as they are, but I can't, my emotions are subject to rapid change, sometimes for no reason whatsoever.

I've been laughing with my friends, only to feel everything sink inside me as I hit rock bottom for a few minutes, maybe a day, depending on how much I fight it. I don't show it, not those inner storms that make no real sense to me, but there is no gentle plateau of emotions for me, it's a storm of up and down, sad then happy, loving, then cold, I am rarely one thing for very long.

I can usually shake my head and bring myself back up when it happens in a crowd of friends, but sometimes I really do need to leave because no amount of inner debating or mental shakes can undo this random mood change and I don't won't to infect anyone else with this sickness lol.

Different things trigger me off, one day a song can bring me great joy and be the kind of song you want to dance around your house to, the next day that same song will come on, and make me stop whatever I am doing, because I am battling intense sadness inside.

Mostly I'm happy go lucky, I bounce through my disasters, sometimes I get knocked down and my Fi takes a battering, but I always get back up and laugh about it all.

Am I just insane or do other NF's have extremely varying emotions throughout the day?

 

[Amargith]

Nope, you're not insane. One could go insane suffering these moodswings though *sigh*

Depending on how bad mine are, I either conceal it or isolate myself, to deal with it.

 

[Phantonym]

I only have two modes of being: numb or nuclear. The numb is indifference or neutral view on everything. The nuclear is either positive or negative. I look cool and calm, but my mind races like crazy from one end of the spectrum to another in a matter of seconds. And exactly, for no reason whatsoever.
Sometimes I can brush it off but sometimes I have to analyze the emotions ad nauseam. The funny thing is, I actually consider myself sane and stable
I can also unleash the inner beast. People close to me can vouch for that. But that doesn't happen very often. Most of the war is going on inside my mind

 

[BerberElla]

Yay, it's an NF thing, and not a berb's gone mad thing lol.

Same here, my mind goes racing off on a tangeant that was totally unrelated to whatever was happening around me, and in that losing of myself the mood change can happen.

Yep, I can see this driving me slowly insane, if it hasn't already.

 

[hommefatal]

1:21 PM: I love you so much!
1:22 PM: You're so awful, I hate you!:steam:
1:23 PM: I don't care about you. Who were you again?

1:21 PM: I love life!
1:22 PM: Life is senseless. I have to kill myself.
1:23 PM: What's the definition of life?

 

[Amargith]

Yay, it's an NF thing, and not a berb's gone mad thing lol.

Same here, my mind goes racing off on a tangeant that was totally unrelated to whatever was happening around me, and in that losing of myself the mood change can happen.

Yep, I can see this driving me slowly insane, if it hasn't already.

It may interest you that some NTs have this as well, ime

 

[BerberElla]

1:21 PM: I love you so much!
1:22 PM: You're so awful, I hate you!:steam:
1:23 PM: I don't care about you. Who were you again?

1:21 PM: I love life!
1:22 PM: Life is senseless. I have to kill myself.
1:23 PM: What's the definition of life?

Haha yeah, it goes a little something like that for me too, I especially love the last part. Because that's usually where it ends up.

 

[BerberElla]

It may interest you that some NTs have this as well, ime

Oh no doubt, they have some hidden F lol but getting them to admit it's an emotional reaction is a whole other story.

 

[Dwigie]

No, they rarely vary unless something "hits me" from outside. If I'm depressed, it's for about a month or more.(perfect example: I've been in total depression for about a month now but it's fading a bit off because I went out with friends and laughed a little) If I'm in a good mood it's again for about three weeks a month. If someone insults me, I'll be offended for...eternity xD and the same goes with positive feedback.

However I've noticed that if I'm around people who are not too stable emotionally I get drained or start "absorbing" theirs so it becomes a real roller coaster.
That's why I stay away from negative people, constant whiners and the likes.

 

[Thessaly]

I ride on an emotional roller coaster throughout the day, hour to hour. I fucking hate it. I guess I'll be happy that the downs and ups are equal.

 

[runvardh]

The actual change tends to happen on the fractions of a second scale... Any emotion or mood, however, can last from a few minutes to a few hours depending on internal or external stimuli and what my initial state is.

 

[scortia]

I only have two modes of being: numb or nuclear. The numb is indifference or neutral view on everything. The nuclear is either positive or negative.

This basically. I'm pretty good at remaining numb (well more like neutral) most of the time. I only get really passionate about certain things and that's when I will change emotions... the only time I subconsciously kick towards strong emotions is when my depression rears its ugly head. But yeah, passionate towards an insightful book or negative passion towards some sort of cruelty... those sorts of things kick me out of neutral quickly.

 

[stringstheory]

... the only time I subconsciously kick towards strong emotions is when my depression rears its ugly head. But yeah, passionate towards an insightful book or negative passion towards some sort of cruelty... those sorts of things kick me out of neutral quickly.

Yeah, this for me, too. Those ASPCA commercials with Sarah McLaughlin get me so worked up I have to either change the channel or walk out of the room before I get too worked up over wondering how people live with themselves for doing such awful things to those poor fluffy animals and what did they ever do to any of you? Good lord. Then I spend the rest of my day feeling awful and unable to get my mind off anything else even if there is nothing I can do about it. (IE: "how can I enjoy myself when people/animals/life elsewhere suffers so much?")

For those of you who do experience these rapid mood swings, I'm curious if anyone else here has been diagnosed with a mood disorder? I ask because I experience the same things as many of you, and even though I have experienced these feelings for most of my life, it eventually got to a point where I literally could not function and was diagnosed Bipolar II. I still experience these feelings, much like all of you do, but to a drastically less crippling degree.

Not to say the mood swings themselves are indicators of such, just wondering. Though I am being treated through therapy/medication and certainly consider myself sane (as much as possible..I personally think everyone is crazy) and stable, I wonder if a natural NF state of being might lend itself to mood disorders like Bipolar disorder. Thoughts?

 

[illume]

Was the word mercurial not invented exclusively to describe NF moods??? I don't think the word completely captures the rapidity of the mood fluctuations, IME. At times I feel like a damn slave to my emotions. I hate it. At least I am able to cover it up so that only the happy side shows. Which most of the time is how I feel.

 

[The Third Rider]

My emotions used to change quite a lot a few months ago, about every 5 minutes actually and I think the issue was that i was just not happy with myself. Now that I have gotten a better grasp on life I don't get those weird mood changes and feel much better.

 

[Wiley45]

Ugh. My emotions make me seasick on a regular basis.

 

[scortia]

Then I spend the rest of my day feeling awful and unable to get my mind off anything else even if there is nothing I can do about it. (IE: "how can I enjoy myself when people/animals/life elsewhere suffers so much?")

Oh god, SO THIS. Wide-spread empathy and guilt because of something like that is so paralyzing to me at times... why do we decide to take the suffering of the world upon ourselves!? It really sucks in my case because I have social anxiety problems on top of feeling horrible when I'm around any sort of suffering... so I'd feel better if I could do good deeds at places like shelters or retirement homes but going to those places would make me a twisted pile of anxiety and emotion. One day I'll just fight through it, but for now I can't control it very well.

 

[Ruthie]

I hadn't expected so many people to relate to this. I'm feeling a bit left out.

My moods and feelings are usually pretty stable. I'm not a robot or anything - I do have moods - but I don't think anyone would describe me as being on an emotional roller coaster. I get happy. I get sad. I get angry. I get silly. I get grumpy. Who doesn't? But I'm generally in my default mood which is somewhere in the middle of all those.

 

[Coeur]

1:21 PM: I love you so much!
1:22 PM: You're so awful, I hate you!:steam:
1:23 PM: I don't care about you. Who were you again?

1:21 PM: I love life!
1:22 PM: Life is senseless. I have to kill myself.
1:23 PM: What's the definition of life?

That basically sums it up! XDDD

My emotions usually change a lot towards people I care about. The underlying love is the same. But if they slight me at all it's more of a: "FINE, I don't care about you either!" and when they show that they care again I go back to: "I LOOOOVE YOOUU :]]]" So I guess it's self-defense? The worst thing would for me to be indifferent towards someone. If I hate you, I love you. If I love you, I love you. If I feel nothing towards you... that's bad. XD

My emotions are interesting because they need a process time before they sink in.
For example...
Person: *does something that makes me angry*
Me: *rationalizes it. forgets about it*
Hours later: I'm FURIOUS! D:<

Also, I think I may seem bipolar because I react so strongly to everything. Things don't roll off of my back very easily. If someone hurts me, I remember every bad thing that the person ever did to me. The same goes with love- if they do something kind, I'm overwhelmed with every amazing thing that they've ever done and I can't ever imagine disliking them.

 

[statuesquechica]

For those of you who do experience these rapid mood swings, I'm curious if anyone else here has been diagnosed with a mood disorder? I ask because I experience the same things as many of you, and even though I have experienced these feelings for most of my life, it eventually got to a point where I literally could not function and was diagnosed Bipolar II. I still experience these feelings, much like all of you do, but to a drastically less crippling degree.

Not to say the mood swings themselves are indicators of such, just wondering. Though I am being treated through therapy/medication and certainly consider myself sane (as much as possible..I personally think everyone is crazy) and stable, I wonder if a natural NF state of being might lend itself to mood disorders like Bipolar disorder. Thoughts?

Interesting point which I have thought alot about recently. I work with lots of people with various diagnoses, both co-workers, and clients, and I think it is the degree to which one can function (personally, professionally) while still having these "mood swings." For some, medication (temporary or long-term) may help someone cope, though talk therapy can be very effictive. For myself I find it better explained as responding to my environment, literally soaking up emotions of other people, or responding internally to feelings of joy and sorrow.

It can be very hard to control my outward "facade" and sometimes I have become emotional at work (i.e. had a hell of a time keeping it together when Kerry conceded to Bush), but I know when I have to leave a situation to be on my own and cry it out. I also know that I have to work out my feelings by talking to other people to express my sorrow, frustration, anger so that I don't become toxic to myself (and other people). I do believe that therapy serves that purpose, if a friend or co-worker isn't there to help process the emotions. And I think it is really important to set boundaries and know your limits--you have to find some peace within yourself and be satisfied with your contributions.