ENTP or INFJ

[justroaming]

So ive been into mbti and cognitive functions and all that jazz for 2 years now. I use to think I was ENXP but just recently I fell into a crazy existential flavored depression that lasted like 7 months. A week or two ago I was convinced I was in a Ni-Ti loop and resonated with the infj descriptions. However I felt like something was off.. Thats when I hung out with a ENTP friend of mine who I didnt see in forever and really hit it off. But then of course I had to read some shit about "tertiary temptaion" and thought I was just fooling myself. Now I come to realize that the ENTP shadow functions are ISFJ or INTJ and that would make total sense. But i can't shake the fact that I resonated so much with INFJ and now I think im ENTP. Like I feel like I have a strong Ni or something but my Ti is much stronger? I dont know truthfully but I want to figure this out before I say fuck it, if anyone can throw me an outside perspective on this that's be great.

 

[Jeremy8419]

If you resonated with INFJ while in an unhealthy depression, that is good evidence that you're probably not INFJ. The "real" type should be the one in which we are at our best, not just for ourselves, but for those around us who love us as well.

 

[justroaming]

If you resonated with INFJ while in an unhealthy depression, that is good evidence that you're probably not INFJ. The "real" type should be the one in which we are at our best, not just for ourselves, but for those around us who love us as well.

I realize that now, I guess 'm still not in a state to be typing my self.

 

[Jeremy8419]

I realize that now, I guess 'm still not in a state to be typing my self.

Well, for one, you must ask yourself if seeking a type is evidence of being in a proper state, or if it is the opposite.

In life, people walk various paths on the the way to their final, or, perhaps, beginning of their, journey. Some of these paths are bright and warm, and some of these paths are dark and grim. Some of them are by preordained purpose, and some we merely happen upon. Some lead us closer, and some lead us farther. As we weave and wind through these paths in what we, ultimately, call "life," we can begin to focus too much on these innumerous myriads of paths, and forget that, despite which paths we are on, and which paths we have crossed, there is something more important than all of this: That we are the ones walking these paths, and they service us, not the other way around, and, long after all paths fade away, we will still remain.

When I close my eyes and let all the paths, and ways, and joys, and struggles fade away, somewhere behind all the masks, and mannerisms, and hopes, and fears, there is, in the end, only the self which remains. It is at this point, within my place in existence, that my eyes see most clearly, and I am able to, freely, and without consequence, see myself, and only myself, as that which I truly am. And in these moments, my voice cuts through all the haze, all the darkness, to speak both to myself and on my own behalf. And it is in these moments, that no matter what path I may currently be upon, be they work, be they friendships, or be they personality systems, that I can look out upon those paths, and in my voice, my own real voice, speak out unto those paths, and say, "no matter what path this may be, nor to what paths I may go, beyond all paths, I still remain, and this... this is me... and always shall be."

 

[SearchingforPeace]

I don't know if you have read "Was that really me?" by Naomi Quenk, but it might be really helpful.

Ms. Quenk worked for many years with the official MBTI folks and wrote a lot of their stuff. Official MBTI doesn't do cognitive functions, but they have lots of research, which Ms. Quenk used in her book.

Most of her book is available at PerC. Just google ENTP in the grip and it should show up the section related to it.

In theory, periods of grip should help us grow and expand our functions.

I personally realized I was a ENFJ rather than INFJ because of how I get in the grip. INFJs indulge inferior Se while ENFJs enter the abyss of inferior Ti.

While there are only 8 types of inferior grips (2 types each, for example, ENTP and ENFP will both get in grip of inferior Si) there are nuances.

For ex., INFPs and ISFPs both get in the grip of inferior Te, changing them into caricatures of ESTJs, micromanaging, hyper critical and such. But ISFPs struggle more to get out of it than INFPs because ISFPs lack Ne.

Anyway, look up the different types and see if any of those fit you while you were in depression or when stressed out....

 

[justroaming]

I don't know if you have read "Was that really me?" by Naomi Quenk, but it might be really helpful.

Ms. Quenk worked for many years with the official MBTI folks and wrote a lot of their stuff. Official MBTI doesn't do cognitive functions, but they have lots of research, which Ms. Quenk used in her book.

Most of her book is available at PerC. Just google ENTP in the grip and it should show up the section related to it.

In theory, periods of grip should help us grow and expand our functions.

I personally realized I was a ENFJ rather than INFJ because of how I get in the grip. INFJs indulge inferior Se while ENFJs enter the abyss of inferior Ti.

While there are only 8 types of inferior grips (2 types each, for example, ENTP and ENFP will both get in grip of inferior Si) there are nuances.

For ex., INFPs and ISFPs both get in the grip of inferior Te, changing them into caricatures of ESTJs, micromanaging, hyper critical and such. But ISFPs struggle more to get out of it than INFPs because ISFPs lack Ne.

Anyway, look up the different types and see if any of those fit you while you were in depression or when stressed out....

Well what made me think I was infj in the first place was how accurate the inferior se grip was to my situation. It's just now I'm trying to understand where the shadow functions fit into all of this

 

[SearchingforPeace]

Well what made me think I was infj in the first place was how accurate the inferior se grip was to my situation. It's just now I'm trying to understand where the shadow functions fit into all of this

So, you read this and it fit?

Remember, INTJs and INFJs would behave similarly.

In my case, I tested as a ISTP on the official MBTI when I was in college. I am not a ISTP act nothing like one. I am clearly by behavior a ENFJ.

I was in the grip for decades and I lacked self-awareness. I was trapped in an ego construct of denial that hid my true self from my own vision. Only a huge midlife crisis broke it and allowed me to truly see.

The final step in accepting my ENFJness was realizing I fall to inf Ti not inf Se when in the grip

So I went 20+ thinking I was a person who was isolated and struggled to connect with others, while doing so constantly, unconsciously.....

 

[Beargryllz]

One time, when I was really miserable and depressed, I took an MBTI test and got INFP

I'm much better now

 

[Swivelinglight]

If you're like an infj in the grip of the inferior then that hints your true type is ESTP

 

[justroaming]

If you're like an infj in the grip of the inferior then that hints your true type is ESTP

I mean I'm also severely dissociated and depressed so idk, I wouldnt relate to it normally