[ENFP] Unhealthy ENFP?

[BerberElla]

Ok, so I know alot about the unhealthy INFP, but not that much about what an unhealthy ENFP would look like or behave under extreme stress.

I'm looking for some ENFPs to describe how they act when they are feeling stressed to see whether it matches with how I behave.

Also, other ENFP's, do you repress anger, if so how to you repress it?

It's like I feel I match the infp and the enfp profile, but only a few bits out of each. I'm wondering if I can narrow it down by looking at the unhealthy behaviour of both and see if I am prehaps an unhealthy version of one or the other.

 

[Moiety]

Hmmmm I'm beginning to seriously dislike this "healthy/unhealthy" mumbo jumbo.

Under extreme stress I lose a bit of one of my prized qualities which is patience. As long as you don't constantly bug me though I'll appear pretty normal I think.

 

[BerberElla]

Hmmmm I'm beginning to seriously dislike this "healthy/unhealthy" mumbo jumbo.

Me too lol as if getting a grasp on the types wasn't hard enough already.

Initially I was under the assumption that an unhealthy person of any type would behave like their shadow type, but even that isn't right.

 

[Moiety]

Me too lol as if getting a grasp on the types wasn't hard enough already.

Initially I was under the assumption that an unhealthy person of any type would behave like their shadow type, but even that isn't right.

Well, it's just that I see people throwing stuff like "I know this unhealhty ESFP" or "healthy INTJs can be so cool" or whatever...and it leaves me wondering how those people would classify themselves in terms of healthiness.

It's utter bull.

 

[Tiny Army]

I have a good/evil switch that can be flipped fairly easily. Part of Ne-Fi is knowing exactly what will hurt a person in a given situation. I have often, in the heat of a situation done exactly that and really hurt people when I didn't mean to.

 

[phoenix13]

When under extreme stress, I get overwhelmed by nervous energy, and go on cleaning sprees and obsess over insignificant details like a compulsive perfectionist (this is a very rare occurance, mind you). I get vaguely annoyed at everything for no good reason and pretty sarcastic. Oh, and I become very pessimistic. I'm not very loud about it... it's like an implosion (as opposed to an explosion).

...but I wouldn't say stressed ENFPs are necessarily "unhealthy," because these things don't last very long. A day at most.

OK, now for repressing anger: Not possible. The closest I get would be not being aware I was angry, or underestimating the amount of anger I harbored. That's unconscious. However, when the anger is palpable, there's no repressing it. No way. It's so intense, I am forced to confront the responsible party, even though I really really don't want to. I think INFPs are far less likely to do this, because the desire to keep it inside is far stronger than the need to express themselves and purge the negative emotion.

 

[wutup?]

ok im not sure if this has to do with your post, but ik that when enfp's are stressed to the max they become istj's. i have to admit that is super true, because i was in the "istj" zone for 4 months. and it was beyond crazy. and ik the post above says it lasts a day at most, but if ur chronically stressed it can last months! i went like that for 4 months, and sometimes i wonder if being in my opposite shadow "istj" mode changed me by any means...

 

[wutup?]

Well, it's just that I see people throwing stuff like "I know this unhealhty ESFP" or "healthy INTJs can be so cool" or whatever...and it leaves me wondering how those people would classify themselves in terms of healthiness.

It's utter bull.

hmm, well honestly i think when people say unhealthy they mean "shadow" and healthy is probably natural state. some people actually LIVE in their shadow modes for long periods of time (me). its really not bull.

 

[Skyward]

To me, healthiness of type is the same as healthiness of mind and body.

An unhealthy person focuses too much energy on the easy things. For body it's watching TV and sitting on the couch, for mind it is just not trying to push through decisions or problems, and for type it is not working on your 'tougher' functions.

Unhealthiness is different from stress. Stress is temporary and comes from the world dumping things on you that you cant handle easily. Unhealthiness is from the person's lack of development in their other functions besides their primary.

An unhealthy ENFP, by that definition, would be verrry fickle; unable to commit to anything and could easily turn to manipulation since their Fi isnt allowed to hit the breaks. This is when only Ne is used and the rest of the functions are slaves to it and don't have equal say. You could say an unhealthy ENP has no 'breaks' to slow them down.

 

[Nonsensical]

I can act quite like an unhealthy ENFP a lot.

I have unstable emotions and wasn't really brought up in a normal environment per se..

When I'm under a lot of stress I tend to act quite a bit like an INFP. Longing to jump out of the box that's closing in on me. I want to quit all of my obligations and run away. That's under a lot, though. I can handle a medium amount well, but when it starts to spill over, I'm gone.

I don't mean that I drop out when the going gets rough, because I'm hardcore and that's not what I do.

My emotions run high and I feel whip lashed when I have too much going on.

Also, I can be pretty hardcore. I turn off my humor, compassion, and extroversion and go all out until the end giving it my full. But deep down inside, I'm upset, angry, and sad and wishing it would be over soon.

 

[nomadic]

when im pissed off, i try to start a fight

poke the right buttons, have them explode

at the batting cages the other day, almost got into a fight with three rude guys from Orange County. They tried calling the cops on me, but when it came down to it, I said nothing wrong. Its strange, I can be very threatening, yet on paper, I won't say a directly threatening thing. Just something to the effect of "So when do u get offa work?" makes them go crazy cus of the way I say it and my body language. so they know i'll be waiting for them... haha. But to the cops I didn't exactly say anything wrong.

 

[Strawberrylover]

Unhealthiness is different from stress. Stress is temporary and comes from the world dumping things on you that you cant handle easily. Unhealthiness is from the person's lack of development in their other functions besides their primary.

An unhealthy ENFP, by that definition, would be verrry fickle; unable to commit to anything and could easily turn to manipulation since their Fi isnt allowed to hit the breaks. This is when only Ne is used and the rest of the functions are slaves to it and don't have equal say. You could say an unhealthy ENP has no 'breaks' to slow them down.

I like your take on this. There have been periods of my life where I knew I was unhealthy, and I was very much cut off from my emotions and felt unanchored from everything. At times, I was like a car going 110 mph on the highway with no driver. Talk about about Ne running the show!

---
I'm not sure I buy the argument that unhealthy types behave like their shadow types. I'm not sure I ever behaved like an ISTJ even in my darkest times. That's just me though.

 

[Tiny Army]

I tend to repress my anger until it builds and then I lash out quite viciously. I have problems confronting people and if I don't do it in a timely manner it comes out too big and too fast.

 

[Skyward]

Usually stress causes a person to act like their shadow, not unhealthiness (Unless the unhealthiness caused the stress in the first place)

The example of where the person was uber picky and very detail-bogged was an example of being an ISTJ shadow of an ENFP.

 

[metaphours]

the fuck is up with all these "unhealthy" threads?

 

[Nonsensical]

the fuck is up with all these "unhealthy" threads?

SWINE FLU IS A SRYS THREAT1111!

 

[metaphours]

SWINE FLU IS A SRYS THREAT1111!

ZOMG I KNOW

 

[Strawberrylover]

The example of where the person was uber picky and very detail-bogged was an example of being an ISTJ shadow of an ENFP.

I wonder how much of that's dependent on developmental stage and cultural influences though. And I do remember now when I behaved like an ISTJ. When I was very little, I actually planned out each day meticulously down to the minute.

Could anyone point me to literature on healthy/unhealthy types? What's the intellectual basis for what we're talking about?

 

[Nonsensical]

ZOMG I KNOW

lol wut.

 

[Galusha]

intellectual basis? why can't you just have fun with the idea? it's like talking philosophy.