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[INTP] INTPs and loneliness

groovejet02

New member
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
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199
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INTP
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5
INFP forum, regarding INTPs:

... with nobody to relate to and nobody who seems willing or capable to understand them or validate their ideas they can develop a penetrating sense of loneliness or lack of self worth.

Are INTPs more prone to loneliness than other types? Why? What should INTPs do to feel less lonely?
 

Jack Flak

Permabanned
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Jul 17, 2008
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type
I'd say INTPs are midway on the scale, offhand. Extroverts get lonely a lot faster.

The above quote is occasionally true, but for an INFP to consider it standard is just projection.
 

ajblaise

Minister of Propagandhi
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Aug 3, 2008
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INTP
At first, I think we are more resistant to loneliness, which eventually can bring on actual loneliness.
 

jenocyde

half mystic, half skeksis
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Jan 2, 2009
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ENTP
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7w8
I'm too busy mentally to be lonely. And it feels like I'm always surrounded by people. In my experience, alone time equals loneliness to F types.
 

Popsicle

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Dec 19, 2008
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176
MBTI Type
INFJ
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9w1
I think our enjoyment of solitude lessens the possibility of loneliness. An entire weekend with no human contact is something I look forward to. I suspect a more extroverted type would get lonely were he forced to do so.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
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I think different types get lonely in different contexts and for different reasons, as others have described here. The question is hard to answer unless one qualifies it a great deal more.\

I usually feel lonely, even though I enjoy being alone.
(If that makes any sense.)

I enjoy not having my physical freedom imposed on and I enjoy being autonomous.
I hate not feeling understood (imo) by much of the world; that's the thing that leaves me feeling lonely. I also miss not having someone just to put my arms around or to do the same for me; it would be nice having someone physically nearby sometimes.
 

Risen

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ISTP
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Yea... it gets pretty lonely at times :-/ . Even I have my limits of solitude time. I'd agree that extroverts get lonelier much faster in the absence of people to interact with. My brother moved in with me, and went crazy with cabin fever in a matter of days. This place sucks balls, but I really cant blame my loneliness on anyone but myself in the end.
 

Darjur

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Depends on how you define lonely. I personally enjoy the loneliness I get. It not rare for me to completely phaze out all of social interactions for a week or so for no real reason. I just hate being around people for the most part.
 

Jack Flak

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At first, I think we are more resistant to loneliness, which eventually can bring on actual loneliness.
Well, yeah. I like having about 2-3 regular associates to hang around with, and if one moves away or something, it's a jolt. Which has happened to me an inordinate amount of times. A safe estimate is that five of my best friends since I was five have moved away.
 

ajblaise

Minister of Propagandhi
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Messages
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Well, yeah. I like having about 2-3 regular associates to hang around with, and if one moves away or something, it's a jolt. Which has happened to me an inordinate amount of times. A safe estimate is that five of my best friends since I was five have moved away.

Yeah same.
 

Risen

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Well, yeah. I like having about 2-3 regular associates to hang around with, and if one moves away or something, it's a jolt. Which has happened to me an inordinate amount of times. A safe estimate is that five of my best friends since I was five have moved away.

Ditto, except I'm the one who always does the moving :/ .
 

A Schnitzel

WTF is this dude saying?
Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
1,155
MBTI Type
INTP
I can be talking to people all day and still be lonely.

It's not as easy to quantify as how many friends you have or how many people you talk to an a regular basis.
 

JocktheMotie

Habitual Fi LineStepper
Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
8,491
Hmm, I don't think I really get lonely. I find my preference for solitude very energizing, peaceful, and relaxing. However, I do feel loneliness at times when it comes to having certain perspectives or entertaining particular ideas. However this forum has helped immensely with that, I think I piss most of my friends off with the thoughts I have and bring up.

I think our enjoyment of solitude lessens the possibility of loneliness. An entire weekend with no human contact is something I look forward to.

Completely agree.
 

Lurker

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Apr 24, 2007
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5
It takes very little contact for me to avoid loneliness. Spending time with a SO is really all I need, plus one close friend. I mean...it's hard to quantify like I'm attempting to do here. I'll say that a little *quality* time goes a long way. I can still be lonely if all my contact with humans is superficial and shallow. So, it's pretty easy to stave off. However, when I do feel lonely, it's literally painful physically. It's a pretty horrible ache.
 

Wade Wilson

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Oct 17, 2008
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INTP
I.. eh... I never kept friends for long throughout my life but I have dozens of acquaintances. This allows me human contact without all that silly emotional commitment. Loneliness, for me, stems from my feelings of general alienation and not the inability to socialize with other people. I can get on with people just fine but I'm always aware that the majority of my interaction with others is just a quick refill of human contact and then it's off on my own again.
 

run

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Dec 27, 2008
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INTP
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I get lonely, bigtime. My friendships are primitive. I don't know how you people can stand it.
 

avolkiteshvara

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I think different types get lonely in different contexts and for different reasons, as others have described here. The question is hard to answer unless one qualifies it a great deal more.\

I usually feel lonely, even though I enjoy being alone.
(If that makes any sense.)

I enjoy not having my physical freedom imposed on and I enjoy being autonomous.
I hate not feeling understood (imo) by much of the world; that's the thing that leaves me feeling lonely. I also miss not having someone just to put my arms around or to do the same for me; it would be nice having someone physically nearby sometimes.

+1

Loneliness is something we experience more than most. But it doesn't necessarily have negative connotations. I am kind of just more aware of it.
 

Oom

Your time is gonna come.
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Mar 29, 2009
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IsfP
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5w4
+1

Loneliness is something we experience more than most. But it doesn't necessarily have negative connotations. I am kind of just more aware of it.

QFT, I suppose it all depends on the quality of the interactions we have rather than the quantity. But this has been said before. :)
 

Zoom

Self sustaining supernova
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Feb 12, 2009
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There's a sweet melancholy in solitude, for me. I do enjoy solitude so much - prefer and revel in it, all that jazz. But solitude is the choice of being alone, not loneliness... and the times I have felt most alone have oftentimes been when I'm around the highest number of people.

It seems to reinforce the fact that they don't see what I see, realise all of the little, amazing things that I notice and appreciate about the universe (and occasionally other people).

Physical touch grounds me, makes me happy. Also, on occasion the thinking actually becomes too much - when I overanalyse certain things, or can't stop the cogs turning and I need to do something like study, or just be. Another person can help distract me in the good way.

But I only really want... two close connections or so, on average. I do the deeper connections, so two friends, one SO and one friend, etc, is about all I can... upkeep. Many academic acquaintances, but that is at university.
 
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