[NF] NFs, especially INFs -- Freaky Mind-Body Dissociation?

[jaku]

My xSFP friend thought I was a ghost, screamed and I 'woke up'.

this happens to an INFP friend of mine ALL THE TIME.

scaring people with his disconnectedness at least.

and I do have to wake him up sometimes. Sometimes I choose not to and that can be fun too.

And sometimes still, I try to figure out where he is and go hang out with him

 

[TheEmeraldCanopy]

THEY'RE ROBOTS, NOT ALIENS, GODDAMIT.

Squiddies!!! AHHHHHHH!


I have felt this way before many times, btw.

 

[Lady_X]

Okay, I guess I am putting myself out there to sound really weird, but I've been wondering if any other NFs out there -- especially INFs or perhaps INs -- experience what I have difficulty labeling so I will just call it "freaky mind-body dissociations."

What I mean by this is, most of the time I'm merrily going about my day, but occasionally, seemingly out of nowhere, I get weirded out with the sudden thought "Oh my god it is so weird that out of all the people I could have been I'm me and I'm inside this body and brain seeing out of this one particular perspective, holy crap that's so weird." It doesn't happen often and it's not necessarily unpleasant -- just kind of strange and surreal. I'm especially prone to it after a long movie that I got really into. I come out of the theater and I'm like "Whoa, I forgot I was me for a little while" and being me and seeing all the mundane normal things around me that I've seen a million times before suddenly seems very strange.

It's kind of like that freaky scene in the Matrix where he realizes his life has been a hallucination and he's actually been in that tub of water alongside all the other humans having his mind controlled by aliens. It's not that I think I'm in a tub of water having my mind controlled by aliens, but it's like, how would I know if I were since I am only living through the eyes of my one particular body?

Hmm. I hope I'm not coming off as too insane here. I swear I'm actually a pretty stable, healthy productive citizen and all that.

Anyway, I've talked to my ESTP husband about these little "freaky mind-body dissociations" and he cannot relate at all and seems a little spooked any time I mention it. However, I talked to an INFP friend about it a while ago and she said she experiences it too. So that made me wonder if it was an NF thing or perhaps an INF or IN thing? And is there a term for it? If so let me know because I'd kind of like to learn more.

Please don't rip me apart here or tell me how crazy I am, I'm a sensitive little INFJ who's just curious...

haven't read anything else yet...but...i totally know what you're talking about and think it's so bizarre how separate my mind and body can seem. i just got home and was driving on the highway just listening to music and thinking and it wasn't till i got to a ramp that i had to slow down at that i became aware of wth i was doing...if that makes any sense...it's like my body was on auto pilot and...i was totally in my head for about 20 min...is that normal? do other people do that too? and should i be concerned?

but yes...i know what you mean...i've decided that's why i'm so clumsy too because i'm only partially aware of my physical body...like it's just kinda along for the ride...it's way weird.

 

[Lady_X]

Me too. I don't think I can connect mine to any specific catalyst (you & others mentioned movies, daydreaming, etc.), but I get this too.

FYI that you may or may not already know: the part in bold print sounds like 'jamais vu' to me. It's the opposite of 'deja vu'. Jamais vu is when you are someplace familiar, but you feel like you've never been there before. It's got the same disorienting feel to it as deja vu. I get it too when my head is in the weeds.

whoa...never heard of that. i have that too sometimes! what a trip!

 

[Nyx]

Okay, I guess I am putting myself out there to sound really weird, but I've been wondering if any other NFs out there -- especially INFs or perhaps INs -- experience what I have difficulty labeling so I will just call it "freaky mind-body dissociations."

What I mean by this is, most of the time I'm merrily going about my day, but occasionally, seemingly out of nowhere, I get weirded out with the sudden thought "Oh my god it is so weird that out of all the people I could have been I'm me and I'm inside this body and brain seeing out of this one particular perspective, holy crap that's so weird." It doesn't happen often and it's not necessarily unpleasant -- just kind of strange and surreal. I'm especially prone to it after a long movie that I got really into. I come out of the theater and I'm like "Whoa, I forgot I was me for a little while" and being me and seeing all the mundane normal things around me that I've seen a million times before suddenly seems very strange.

It's kind of like that freaky scene in the Matrix where he realizes his life has been a hallucination and he's actually been in that tub of water alongside all the other humans having his mind controlled by aliens. It's not that I think I'm in a tub of water having my mind controlled by aliens, but it's like, how would I know if I were since I am only living through the eyes of my one particular body?

Hmm. I hope I'm not coming off as too insane here. I swear I'm actually a pretty stable, healthy productive citizen and all that.

Anyway, I've talked to my ESTP husband about these little "freaky mind-body dissociations" and he cannot relate at all and seems a little spooked any time I mention it. However, I talked to an INFP friend about it a while ago and she said she experiences it too. So that made me wonder if it was an NF thing or perhaps an INF or IN thing? And is there a term for it? If so let me know because I'd kind of like to learn more.

Please don't rip me apart here or tell me how crazy I am, I'm a sensitive little INFJ who's just curious...

I recently realized that I am actually, honestly an INFP. I've scored INTP and INFP on Myers Briggs tests, but scored INTP more often. A funny thing happened and I realized that I was only scoring as an INTP because I had changed my inherent personality to be more of a thinker. A defense mechanism against feeling. I also hated the seeming connotation of feelers not being intellectual/smart etc.

ANYWAY, I have felt this EXACT thing before. I have wondered whether I was alone in feeling it. It's like the sudden realization. I am alive. Conscious. I can't force it to happen but I think it happens after moments of intense concentrating on something else. (like you said a movie) But sometimes I have felt it randomly as if God or someone of his ilk dropped a sword-thought from the sky and it cleaved my head in two. The thought burrowing deep into my cerebral tissue. It makes the back of my neck/head kind of tingle and feel warm. I can relate so so much to this. It's comforting to know there are others!

 

[Orangey]

To be honest, when I experienced the dissociation as a child, it was an effortless and strange sensation. I was walking down the stairs with my second grade class, and for no reason at all, I completely detached from my "self." I was looking at the wall, and it was like being an alien force that occupies people's bodies for periods of time. I was curious as to why I had been assigned to this body, at this particular time in history. Why hadn't I been assigned to another body? It was a really weird feeling.

 

[dani_elle]

I see myself outside my body many times in dreams.

But in the real world I often wondered what would happen if MY soul was transplanted in someone elses body. Like literally being put into someone elses shoes, experiencing the same circumstances they did EXCEPT my mind was fully aware I was in someone else's body and rather than thinking as if it belonged to me, it had a third party perception of whatever was happening at the moment.

This may very well be a NF thing but its quite fun as long as you don't tell others about it. Lol!

 

[jaku]

I see myself outside my body many times in dreams.

But in the real world I often wondered what would happen if MY soul was transplanted in someone elses body. Like literally being put into someone elses shoes, experiencing the same circumstances they did EXCEPT my mind was fully aware I was in someone else's body and rather than thinking as if it belonged to me, it had a third party perception of whatever was happening at the moment.

This may very well be a NF thing but its quite fun as long as you don't tell others about it. Lol!

archaically, reincarnation??

 

[dani_elle]

jaku: Maybe possession! Mwahahah!

No idea!

 

[jaku]

hahahaHA!
i guess it's all dependent upon the space-time frame.
...and your evil soul

 

[Lacey]

Ha, yep, me too. It happens to me a lot when I'm meeting new people...and in other social situations I guess. When I'm around other people sometimes I start to think about what it's like to be inside that body over there, and not mine over here. That sounds kinda creepy.

I get the feeling that my body and mind are separate entities...like, I'm two different people. They don't sync up. I'm a dancer too...and I've tried to explain this to my dance friends. They don't get it AT ALL. haha I get so into my head sometimes that I forget I have an actual physical body.

 

[fill]

Yes. Yes. Oh, yes.

I have the weird thought of, "I can't feel what other people feel- are they real? Is anything real?!" and I'll constantly wow myself with, "I can't begin to comprehend the essence of that person's life being so much different from mine."

I used to hold a "mind over body" belief, and I still do to some extent, but I've more come to the belief that all of our bodily sensations are completely meaningless without a mind to perceive them- or give them meaning.

 

[neptunesnet]

Okay, I guess I am putting myself out there to sound really weird, but I've been wondering if any other NFs out there -- especially INFs or perhaps INs -- experience what I have difficulty labeling so I will just call it "freaky mind-body dissociations."

What I mean by this is, most of the time I'm merrily going about my day, but occasionally, seemingly out of nowhere, I get weirded out with the sudden thought "Oh my god it is so weird that out of all the people I could have been I'm me and I'm inside this body and brain seeing out of this one particular perspective, holy crap that's so weird." It doesn't happen often and it's not necessarily unpleasant -- just kind of strange and surreal. I'm especially prone to it after a long movie that I got really into. I come out of the theater and I'm like "Whoa, I forgot I was me for a little while" and being me and seeing all the mundane normal things around me that I've seen a million times before suddenly seems very strange.

It's kind of like that freaky scene in the Matrix where he realizes his life has been a hallucination and he's actually been in that tub of water alongside all the other humans having his mind controlled by aliens. It's not that I think I'm in a tub of water having my mind controlled by aliens, but it's like, how would I know if I were since I am only living through the eyes of my one particular body?

Hmm. I hope I'm not coming off as too insane here. I swear I'm actually a pretty stable, healthy productive citizen and all that.

Anyway, I've talked to my ESTP husband about these little "freaky mind-body dissociations" and he cannot relate at all and seems a little spooked any time I mention it. However, I talked to an INFP friend about it a while ago and she said she experiences it too. So that made me wonder if it was an NF thing or perhaps an INF or IN thing? And is there a term for it? If so let me know because I'd kind of like to learn more.

Please don't rip me apart here or tell me how crazy I am, I'm a sensitive little INFJ who's just curious...

I almost hate you because I love you too much for saying (or threading?) this^. You are not crazy. You are inquisitive.

It's so difficult trying to explain to friends exactly how I feel about my ability to be only one person with individual experiences, my own life, and my own fate (or maybe I should phrase it: "how I feel about my inability to be someone else with different experiences and such"?). The idea blows my mind when I mull it over: that I can only experience life through this one body and this one mind. Because of my one me (huh?), I appreciate and cherish both my two beings, my external and internal world.

I specifically remember being about five (I cannot make this stuff up!) and wondering why I was "me," what was my purpose as "me," and why my "spirit me" and my "body me" were conjoined in a way that made me "me" and not some other "me?"
...Maybe I was a bit precocious?

I'm not entirely sure if this can help you, since I'm not a studying philosopher, but concepts like "Dualism" and the "Mind-Body Dichotomy" could probably act as guides to you on your research. You could also try watching Being John Malkovich for a creative way of looking at the "Freaky Mind-Body" thing.

You know it has to be an N thing.

 

[LEGERdeMAIN]

I absolutely have the same problem(gift?) experience(s?).

In fact(as far as I can tell), I'm constantly thinking about where I am in the world in relation to the things, people, places and ideas I (reluctantly) expose myself to. I can get so involved in playing the space-time reference game that I space out, as my boss puts it. When did you first have this alien-in-a-strange-world experience?

I remember feeling that I was trapped in someone else's body until I was about fourteen years old. Oh, yeah. traveling in a headship in a hazy video game with seven year old hands, where am i? who am I?...ugh...can't speak.


The reference to that Matrix scene is right on. When I was in high school, I read into "astral projection" and kundalini and OOBE and took a lot of hallucinogenic drugs, somehow believing that these weird experiences I had were somehow useful. something, something...what was I talking about?

 

[Ginkgo]

A year ago when I used to play GTA on a regular basis, I would sometimes find myself driving around and having sudden impulses to run people over. Then I took a step back and I asked myself "Holy shit! did I just think that?".

I subsequently quit playing GTA for obvious reasons, but I am not one to say that violent video games create violent children. After all, you could turn it around that violent children enjoy violent video games. Correlation does not equal causation.

 

[LEGERdeMAIN]

A year ago when I used to play GTA on a regular basis, I would sometimes find myself driving around and having sudden impulses to run people over. Then I took a step back and I asked myself "Holy shit! did I just think that?".

I subsequently quit playing GTA for obvious reasons, but I am not one to say that violent video games create violent children. After all, you could turn it around that violent children enjoy violent video games. Correlation does not equal causation.

After the San Andreas came out, I started having these lucid dreams of me watching myself running from the police, one time(during the dream), I tried to lose the cop cars by running through a gas station, but one of the cars hit the pumps and everything blew up. I woke up with pains in my chest, all sweaty. I haven't played in years.

I never could figure out how to steal a car and pick up hookers, though......

 

[Ginkgo]

After the San Andreas came out, I started having these lucid dreams of me watching myself running from the police, one time(during the dream), I tried to lose the cop cars by running through a gas station, but one of the cars hit the pumps and everything blew up. I woke up with pains in my chest, all sweaty. I haven't played in years.

I never could figure out how to steal a car and pick up hookers, though......

I'm pretty sure you just pull over and press the 'whistle' button. I think that was the right bumper on the 360.

The last lucid dream I had involved me being a witch doctor from Diablo 3, spewing toxic flowers at incoming space crafts from my hands. Yes, toxic flowers. I also had a legion of the little dust mite things from "My Neighbor Totoro", but they just sat there for unknown reasons.

 

[Happyman]

I had things like you mention when I was younger. When I was 5 or 6 I got this really intense thought that everything is a dream. How can I tell that I really live, since in the night I experience reality that seems as real?
My father was a Buddhist, so he told me it's actually good I felt that. That got his son pretty confused back then.

Later, when I was 11-12, I sometimes had this experience of 'coming back' to my sense of self after being with other people a lot. Like on the summer camp, when I was with somebody CONSTANTLY, talking even while peeing when I finally got alone I had this funny feeling of rediscovering myself, my ego was coming back to me, after being melted with all the other people.

I think these experiences are to be treasured, not feared!

 

[Athenian200]

Yes, but mine has an added dimension. I often feel that my mind is in the wrong body...

 

[Thalassa]

Yes, I do this. I do it at work sometimes because I'm a part-time cashier in a grocery store and my work is frequently repetitive and boring.

I remember one time when I was about sixteen I woke up and saw myself lying beside myself. It frightened me.

I've noticed that I'll do this thing sometimes when I'm looking at an object which I hold dear, I'll suddenly realize how strongly I'm projecting my own consciousness upon said object. I think this is a mind-body dissociation.

When I was a dancer I would dissociate. I've read that this is common in women who do that sort of work.