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[ENFP] I just read about ENFP shadow functions

angelhair45

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Jun 15, 2010
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So I read about the shadow functions of an ENFP. Berens believes they can emerge under stress. Apparently Ni Fe Ti and Se are the four that can emerge. I feel like I've been functioning in Ni Fe and Ti for quite a few years now. The past 5 or so years have been unbelievably stressful so it makes sense. Recently I have made changes in my outlook and have fallen back into more typical ENFP functions and I feel much happier, and comfortable.

Anyone with similar experience?
 

sculpting

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Does it feel like a calm protective wall that isolates you from the external world-but leaves you alone at the same time, somewhat numb?
 

miss fortune

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like ESTP shadow functions that leave a person EMOTING... its horribly undignified :cry:
 

miss fortune

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I think it's kind of a rule that Feelers are somewhat horrified to be acting like a Thinker and vice versa in a way... :unsure:

and thanks! :)
 

highlander

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So I read about the shadow functions of an ENFP. Berens believes they can emerge under stress. Apparently Ni Fe Ti and Se are the four that can emerge. I feel like I've been functioning in Ni Fe and Ti for quite a few years now. The past 5 or so years have been unbelievably stressful so it makes sense. Recently I have made changes in my outlook and have fallen back into more typical ENFP functions and I feel much happier, and comfortable.

Anyone with similar experience?

Yep :blush:

There is a book on this topic called "Beside Ourselves" which is about eruptions of the inferior. It's a very good read. From Amazon.com:

"We have all experienced times when we felt out of character or "beside ourselves," acting in unexpected or inconsistent ways. And we have all witnessed equally confusing behavior in other people. BESIDE OURSELVES explores the hidden or unfamiliar side of personality, also known as the inferior function, which surfaces when we are fatigued, ill, under stress, or otherwise "beside ourselves."

Using Jungian psychological type theory as a framework to unravel and explain this fascinating and often confusing side of human personality, Naomi Quenk argues that the inferior function is not abnormal, but rather a natural and healthy part of personality that can lead to enriched understanding and increased personal growth and development. She deftly reveals how the part of personality that often looks and feels off center is, in fact, adaptive and helpful to overall functioning. Her positive message inspires readers to explore this new and exciting part of themselves, which results in increased personal and interpersonal effectiveness."
 

Queen Kat

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Well, I've had a few very stressful years in the past and I was definately like an INFJ. There was no E or P left of me, just the NF part. I believe I did a test back then that said I was INFJ too.
 

Ratsimoan

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Yeah, when I stressed I acted like an infj. But, I notice when I don't feed the beast, I acted in my typical enfp way.
 

Moiety

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When I was under real stress for months in a row I was actually devolving into an ISTJ. Very grumpy, obsessed about details and other people not doing things in the proper way, stuck in the past... Very Te driven too.
 

highlander

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I will write more on this topic later this week.
 

Pandoraspinnerchoi

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Jan 7, 2018
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So I read about the shadow functions of an ENFP. Berens believes they can emerge under stress. Apparently Ni Fe Ti and Se are the four that can emerge. I feel like I've been functioning in Ni Fe and Ti for quite a few years now. The past 5 or so years have been unbelievably stressful so it makes sense. Recently I have made changes in my outlook and have fallen back into more typical ENFP functions and I feel much happier, and comfortable.

Anyone with similar experience?

Actually yes. Says an ENFP who has been caught so long into her shadow and inferior functions that don't know anymore how to get back to normal except sometimes :,D
I am 18, and I act as an Introvert since age 9. I think this is due to social anxiety, because as I am with people I trust or alone is like I finally can go back to myself. Now the social anxiety is almost gone, but its been so long since I showed my true personality that now doing it is jumping faaar from my confort zone.
When I am with people I recently met or don't trust so much I act like the stereotypical ISTJ; extremely aware, stiff, quiet, I give the impression of being the most responsible person in the room. This happens as I am "posessed" by my lower functions (Te and Si)
When I am REALLY down or tired, or sensitive I may seen an INFJ or INFP, like there is this thicc barrier between me and the exterior world which I can't even tresspass. Like when I'm in public, I act quiet, but with this sad, melancholic, afflicted aura that the people who cares about me notices. This happens when my shadow functions take me down.
 
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