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[INTJ] INTJs and Depression

DigitalMethod

Content. Content?
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
970
MBTI Type
INTJ
Yeah, how's that work out? Just wondering how you INTJs have avoided or coped with depression within your own life.
 

Haphazard

Don't Judge Me!
Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Messages
6,704
MBTI Type
ENFJ
I don't know about depression, but I try not to let life get me down.

There's so much to do. When I feel the stagnation creep up on me, I throw myself into something new. I need it, I love it I thrive on it. I need something to dedicate myself to, and there's no shortage of projects.
 

MetalWounds

More human than human
Joined
Jan 19, 2008
Messages
678
MBTI Type
TP
Enneagram
9w8
Depression, for me at least, is like Carbon Monoxide poisoning. It creeps in silently, I tend not to even know it's coming. The worst part is that I don't become your typical depressive sufferer. Everything just goes flat. No happiness, no sadness. Not a lack of motivation, but not much to speak of either. Most people (even those close to me) would never be able to tell, I just seem normal. I've been depressed for as long as a year, it just became a part of my life, who I was.

Just before I got deployed I was fast approaching critical mass. By anyone's standards I was very much an alcoholic. I would drink 6 nights a week, work nights, weekends, it didn't matter. When I drank I was everybody's favorite person to be around. Happy, funny, you name it. When I was sober I would be negative and openly combative. If you read into the Enneagram, I was a very unhealthy type 8.

Like Haphazard said, avoid stagnation, that's really the best way for an INTJ to stay healthy. As INTJs, we don't do very well to mull over past mistakes. Live for the future, to hell with yesterday. When I get down I constantly obsess over what I've done wrong to a point where it interferes with my life.
 

entropie

Permabanned
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
16,767
MBTI Type
entp
Enneagram
783
I can feel with you. Treating obsessions with obsession, is one of my specialities too. A long time ago I was addicted to marijuana in combination with heavy drinking. I lost my car license in that time and in my country you have to go through a straight medical and psychological profile to get it back.

With no help from the outside, I pulled the plug to that way of living myself and today after nearly 2 years, I even got my car license back :). Except for my personal flaws, I have all the time, no one was involved in me being that strong to help me myself. All that conviction in that time to myself and a lot of obpressed feelings, nowadays come to live and want their tribute for being so calm in those days.

I have, by the way no idea of how to help iNTj cope with depression. I think iNTj are the ones who are of all intuitional personality types, one of the strongest. And like MetalWounds saied, they best help themselves.

But there always needs to be room for depression ! Without depression being recognized it will haunt you.
 

sriv

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
418
MBTI Type
JIxT
I spend so much energy combatting depression because of its obvious detrimental results/purposes that I end up drained and lethargic going about daily activities.
 

Firelie

Magical
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
836
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5
I react much the same way to depression as I do to extreme stress...I just want to shut down and sit around watching television.

The only thing I can really do is realize what's going on and force myself to get out of the house and do something else. Exercise helps a lot.

But mine tends to be like what MetalWounds described...everything just goes flat and nobody can tell but me.
 

Haphazard

Don't Judge Me!
Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Messages
6,704
MBTI Type
ENFJ
I don't know. When I get really upset, I become more physically sick than anything else. Dizzy and nauseated, etc. After a particularly bad week, my mother thought I had the flu. Eugh. It's a little like my feelings know they won't get any attention, so they go ahead and muck up my body.

I know I have to do something, but it can't involve moving so much. Drawing and writing are usually best, but not about anything that's going on at the moment.
 

DigitalMethod

Content. Content?
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
970
MBTI Type
INTJ
For me, I become flat also, although other people can usually tell if they know me well enough. I get a totally blank face, no expression. If anything happy or sad happens in my life, I will think about it for 10 seconds, "wow that was ____", then after that, just flat, I don't care. It's like I don't have any feelings, it's sorta scary.

I don't enjoy any of the old stuff I use to, such as video games, and graphic design, those things were always fun to me, I could do them for hours. Now when I do those things they just turn into a way to waste my time. It feels like that because they don't bring any joy into my life like they use to. It's definitely related to the whole "no feelings, no caring, flatness" thing.

I use to care about my grades in high school, I would study when needed to, but recently I find myself just not caring about it. I am also in college, but I am in the 2/5th of the year in which I do not attend so I don't know if my depression would affect my grades in college, although I think I tend to care more about college because it seems more... important, than high school.

I would go find something to do yeah, a "project" or obsession that I could move on with, but right now, the whole feeling of flatness just doesn't care about getting a new project.

I don't ever plan to even try alcohol, mainly because I am an INTJ and alcoholism runs in my family, I know with those two combined factors I would become addicted and it would screw me over.

I find myself just surfing the internet a lot of the time, trying to fill some kind of void that I cannot see. I guess it's my own way of trying to find a new project. Like if I find something, it will act as a key, and unlock the chains of my depression.
 

Aerithria

Senior Thread Terminator
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
568
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w4
Huh. I never realized this was an INTJ thing, but merely a "I must be the most screwed up person on the planet" thing. The trend follows suit for me as well. Muted-to-absent emotions coupled with conversion disorder, though instead of flu-like symptoms it's migraines for me. It's interesting though. After years and years of being called an emotionless jerk, depression follows through with the stereotype. The irony doesn't fail to amuse me.

I went to a shrink once with disastrous results, so I mostly attempt to deal with it myself. I think it's harder for us because not only are we wired differently than most people, but we are also more prone to be disconnected from our emotions. I think most people end up trying to solve a problem in their lives, but the reason we have trouble is that if it were a problem to be solved we could probably fix it in some way or another without pause. Our problems are more likely to be caused by the lack of a problem rather than the lack of a solution. But that's mostly speculative, and may only apply to me. I don't know.

Bah, it's late, I'm tired, so if this doesn't make any sense feel free to whack me with a rubber chicken, because I don't know. I could be speaking in sign language for all I can tell.
 

DigitalMethod

Content. Content?
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
970
MBTI Type
INTJ
Huh. I never realized this was an INTJ thing, but merely a "I must be the most screwed up person on the planet" thing. The trend follows suit for me as well. Muted-to-absent emotions coupled with conversion disorder, though instead of flu-like symptoms it's migraines for me. It's interesting though. After years and years of being called an emotionless jerk, depression follows through with the stereotype. The irony doesn't fail to amuse me.

I went to a shrink once with disastrous results, so I mostly attempt to deal with it myself. I think it's harder for us because not only are we wired differently than most people, but we are also more prone to be disconnected from our emotions. I think most people end up trying to solve a problem in their lives, but the reason we have trouble is that if it were a problem to be solved we could probably fix it in some way or another without pause. Our problems are more likely to be caused by the lack of a problem rather than the lack of a solution. But that's mostly speculative, and may only apply to me. I don't know.

Bah, it's late, I'm tired, so if this doesn't make any sense feel free to whack me with a rubber chicken, because I don't know. I could be speaking in sign language for all I can tell.

Hmm, I don't get migraines, but I do get called an emotionless jerk a lot. Certainly it isn't an INTJ thing, but I think we deal with it differently than others, like you said, we are wired differently. What happened at the shrink?

I think your post made complete sense in my opinion, thanks.
 

Aerithria

Senior Thread Terminator
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
568
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w4
Heh, he claimed that all my problems were being caused by me not being vocal about my feelings, and he attempted to get my ESFJ mother to bring that out in me. When that failed, he started connecting anything I said to unrelated events in the past as "causes". After that failed, he tried to "help me find God", as he put it. Eventually I got so frustrated that I just told him what he wanted to hear so I could get out of there. Either he was terrible at his job or he's never dealt with anyone who wasn't using Fe.
 

Firelie

Magical
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
836
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5
Heh, he claimed that all my problems were being caused by me not being vocal about my feelings, and he attempted to get my ESFJ mother to bring that out in me. When that failed, he started connecting anything I said to unrelated events in the past as "causes". After that failed, he tried to "help me find God", as he put it. Eventually I got so frustrated that I just told him what he wanted to hear so I could get out of there. Either he was terrible at his job or he's never dealt with anyone who wasn't using Fe.

Or perhaps both.
 

Spartacuss

wholly charmed
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
677
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
Heh, he claimed that all my problems were being caused by me not being vocal about my feelings, and he attempted to get my ESFJ mother to bring that out in me. When that failed, he started connecting anything I said to unrelated events in the past as "causes". After that failed, he tried to "help me find God", as he put it. Eventually I got so frustrated that I just told him what he wanted to hear so I could get out of there. Either he was terrible at his job or he's never dealt with anyone who wasn't using Fe.

I've always wondered about people with atypical worldviews or wiring going to shrinks and how open-minded/versatile shrinks are in being able to speak to them in any meaningful way. Your story doesn't reassure me that the average psych would be anything but utterly useless. The outlook looks dim, and is even dimmer when you consider that these are the very people who may be more driven to need a shrink after wearing themselves out trying to adapt to the rest of the world.
 

Aerithria

Senior Thread Terminator
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
568
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w4
I've always wondered about people with atypical worldviews or wiring going to shrinks and how open-minded/versatile shrinks are in being able to speak to them in any meaningful way. Your story doesn't reassure me that the average psych would be anything but utterly useless. The outlook looks dim, and is even dimmer when you consider that these are the very people who may be more driven to need a shrink after wearing themselves out trying to adapt to the rest of the world.
I know. My thought was that if they can handle people with reality-altering disorders, like schizophrenia, then they should be able to deal with people who process life differently. Hm. Perhaps that was my mistake. I should have gone to a specialist in reality disorders, because apparently our reality isn't quite good enough. Bah.

Keep in mind that my account is only one, and I did mention that he sounded like a moron. I'll bet there probably are some psychiatrists who are able to comprehend other worldviews without forcing the norm onto them. I think I've read about them, at least.

@Firelie: Probably.
 

DigitalMethod

Content. Content?
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
970
MBTI Type
INTJ
I never thought that different personalities dealt with depression differently. It's enlightening.
 

entropie

Permabanned
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
16,767
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entp
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783
I never thought that different personalities dealt with depression differently. It's enlightening.

Just, dont start to look much more deeper into it, I was told that people who try so are reserved a special place in the one flew over it kinda thing xD
 

OK Radio

New member
Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
71
MBTI Type
intj
I think it's harder for us because not only are we wired differently than most people, but we are also more prone to be disconnected from our emotions. I think most people end up trying to solve a problem in their lives, but the reason we have trouble is that if it were a problem to be solved we could probably fix it in some way or another without pause. Our problems are more likely to be caused by the lack of a problem rather than the lack of a solution.

Is there anything else besides solving problems or not solving problems to live by? I believe I'd be happier if I didn't care about solving problems. I'd still help people, and I'd concentrate on helping myself just as much as other people, but it wouldn't count for as much in my life.

I want to save the world and myself; I don't want to care if I fail on occasion.
 

Ishida

New member
Joined
May 5, 2008
Messages
132
MBTI Type
INTJ
Depression, for me at least, is like Carbon Monoxide poisoning. It creeps in silently, I tend not to even know it's coming. The worst part is that I don't become your typical depressive sufferer. Everything just goes flat. No happiness, no sadness. Not a lack of motivation, but not much to speak of either. Most people (even those close to me) would never be able to tell, I just seem normal. I've been depressed for as long as a year, it just became a part of my life, who I was.

Just before I got deployed I was fast approaching critical mass. By anyone's standards I was very much an alcoholic. I would drink 6 nights a week, work nights, weekends, it didn't matter. When I drank I was everybody's favorite person to be around. Happy, funny, you name it. When I was sober I would be negative and openly combative. If you read into the Enneagram, I was a very unhealthy type 8.

Like Haphazard said, avoid stagnation, that's really the best way for an INTJ to stay healthy. As INTJs, we don't do very well to mull over past mistakes. Live for the future, to hell with yesterday. When I get down I constantly obsess over what I've done wrong to a point where it interferes with my life.

My experience was similar. Very similar. (Except I couldn't buy or care to drink alcohol.) Even the solving of it is similar. Though a couple people said they could tell, even though they never said anything.
 

Spartacuss

wholly charmed
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
677
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
I know. My thought was that if they can handle people with reality-altering disorders, like schizophrenia, then they should be able to deal with people who process life differently. Hm. Perhaps that was my mistake. I should have gone to a specialist in reality disorders, because apparently our reality isn't quite good enough. Bah.
Yeah, they "deal with" them as ill people with distorted realities who need treatment to come around. If you're not hallucinating and paranoid, the psych's limited in what, besides listening, s/he can do for you.

Keep in mind that my account is only one, and I did mention that he sounded like a moron. I'll bet there probably are some psychiatrists who are able to comprehend other worldviews without forcing the norm onto them. I think I've read about them, at least.
ha! Good luck with that.
 
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