[NF] Melancholia & Type

[cloakofsnow]

Hi, I'm new, but I hope you don't mind me just jumping right in and starting a new topic. I could go on and on about this, but I'll just be very brief for now:

Do NFs (or perhaps Feeling types in general) have more of a tendency towards melancholiness (not necessarily of the clinically depressed variety, though that too might count) than other types?

I have a sense that certain types of emotions or ways of expressing emotion is more acceptable in certain cultures and societies than in others. Is melancholia particularly unacceptable in our culture/society, even more so than, say, anger? This has been my experience. What do others think?

 

[wolfmaiden14]

If it was unnacceptable than why has "emo" become such a mainstream thing? It's cool to be depressed nowadays! WTF?! Of course.. because of people beginning to blow things out of proportion and pretending to cut themselves and whatnot, perhaps it has started to be looked down upon.

I think that any F would be more prone to melancholy. NFs perhaps even moreso because they see bigger things to BE sad about, which effect them at a deeper level, some of which they can't even do anything about which spirals it even more.

 

[Athenian200]

Well, I have some melancholic tendencies in the depressed sense, but I'm not terribly depressed all of the time... more towards neutral/balanced, actually.

That said, I usually test as a Melancholy-Phlegmatic type in the temperament sense.

 

[PuddleRiver]

Just from my observations, understand, but there does seem to be a few INTPs that seems to be pretty melancholic. Anybody agree? or maybe it's just teen angst, immature INTPs. Yeah, I think that's probably it.

 

[arcticangel02]

Just from my observations, understand, but there does seem to be a few INTPs that seems to be pretty melancholic. Anybody agree? or maybe it's just teen angst, immature INTPs. Yeah, I think that's probably it.

Mmm, a little bit. A lot of this may be looking at them from the outside and seeing a reclusive, somewhat pessimistic person and assuming they're depressed, though.

 

[vince]

If it was unnacceptable than why has "emo" become such a mainstream thing?

I think there's a huge difference between mainstream "emo", which is just an empty buzzword for people with strange haircuts, and genuinely melancholic & depressed people.
Emotion has always been considered a weakness imho. And that's a shame.

By the way : welcome cloakofsnow. I personally think INFJ's & especially INFP's tend toward melancholy.

 

[Domino]

I have a lot of trouble with, eh, how do I put it -- being like stormy weather? Not to say I'm unpredictable, just... stormy. NFs I think tend to come off as being more "depressive" because we're so affected by everything around us. I know the pain of another, even a stranger, can go right through me like a knife and I have no way to stop it. When it's almost impossible to be objective (in the rational sense) one can be a bit wild at times. At least, I can be.

 

[Kyrielle]

Oh, I have a tendency to be gloomy sometimes for reasons I can't really explain. I certainly don't get depressed exactly, but I'm not my normal self. I think it tends to happen (maybe in other NFs) when I lose my sense of meaning and purpose in what I'm doing in my life. I don't always need to know where I'm going as much as I need to know the reason I'm doing something (or not doing anything), and if it doesn't seem to serve any useful function in my life, I get very melancholic.

 

[Randomnity]

I think everyone goes through "melancholy" periods. An F is (in my experience) far more likely to show it though, either to the general public or to friends. And when they do show it, it often has a different....flavour from that of a T. I doubt that F would correspond to pessimism--though maybe they would have more dramatic mood swings. Perhaps the reasons for becoming unhappy would vary from type to type, though I doubt it's a simple dichotomy between T and F.

 

[Hang]

If it was unnacceptable than why has "emo" become such a mainstream thing? It's cool to be depressed nowadays! WTF?! Of course.. because of people beginning to blow things out of proportion and pretending to cut themselves and whatnot, perhaps it has started to be looked down upon.

I think that any F would be more prone to melancholy. NFs perhaps even moreso because they see bigger things to BE sad about, which effect them at a deeper level, some of which they can't even do anything about which spirals it even more.

hehe yeah.

 

[MrRandom]

I have so strong mood swings that I'm kind of tired with myself. My mood is never balanced... it just goes from happy-happy to depressed and usually switches multiple times a day. It's not really manic-depression, I just think and feel too much... When I feel depressed, I just keep going, because I know it's just a mood swing that goes by. So unless I say something, other people don't even notice.

I'm totally melancholic. My mother often asks "why?!??". My answer "It's just my personality" doesn't quite satisfy her.

 

[redacted]

seems like more of an FP thing than an NF thing

 

[Little Linguist]

Oh, I have a tendency to be gloomy sometimes for reasons I can't really explain. I certainly don't get depressed exactly, but I'm not my normal self. I think it tends to happen (maybe in other NFs) when I lose my sense of meaning and purpose in what I'm doing in my life. I don't always need to know where I'm going as much as I need to know the reason I'm doing something (or not doing anything), and if it doesn't seem to serve any useful function in my life, I get very melancholic.

I agree 100%!

 

[DONENO]

I have a lot of trouble with, eh, how do I put it -- being like stormy weather? Not to say I'm unpredictable, just... stormy. NFs I think tend to come off as being more "depressive" because we're so affected by everything around us.

Yeah, I agree. I seem depressive at times but as I've accepted emotions will come and go just like a storm; it's key not to hold on to them or you'll get a hurricane !!!

{BTW, I'm this is my first post here in case anyone cares :hi::hi::hi:}