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.
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.
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.
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 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.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 never thought that different personalities dealt with depression differently. It's enlightening.
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.
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.
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.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.
ha! Good luck with that.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.