Highly relatable for two years, gets intenfisied periodically. Would not really thought that a crisis would finally help me to pin down my type for good.
I won't be around, but everyone should know that everything is either under control or soon to be tamed. Cheers.
"INTJs will often stress when we experience powerlessness or lack of control, incompetence, and lack of knowledge :
Something has gone wrong in an interpersonal relationship that brought about all of these new feelings they couldn’t avoid, no matter how hard they tried
Required to alter their plans or are given limited time to adjust to variationsd
Dealing with details and realities
Poor performance by co-workers that affects results or violates standards, thus achieving less than desirable results
Noise, distractions, disorganization, and having to extravert too much
WHEN AFFECTED BY STRESS, AN INTJ WILL OFTEN…
As mentioned, the INTJ often attempts to escape from the outside world by retreating deeply into their own mind and space, so the INTJ will behave more according to type when under greater stress. For example, in a crisis, the INTJ might:
retire to a private place and think through a problem until the INTJ has formulated a complete plan for solving it
try to maintain a high degree of quality in the solution
criticise others’ ideas, particularly if they involve compromising quality
make errors of fact, or pursue ideas that are unrealistic
However, eventually, if their mind and space themselves becomes too stressful, they may seek to escape just as extremely back in the other direction. Under extreme stress, fatigue or illness, the INTJ’s shadow may appear - an unhealthy ESFP. Example characteristics are:
doing things to excess - e.g.: eating, drinking or exercising
acting very impulsively, perhaps starting off more projects than the INTJ could hope to accomplish
expressing emotions in an intensive and uncontrolled way
being very sensitive to criticism
asking for lots of information that is irrelevant
gather details to support their self-destructive behavior and attack their self-image
becoming preoccupied with the cause of their stress and have trouble focusing their energy on work
mentally reviews issues which lead to sleepless nights
with chronic stress, become irritable, tired, tense, or angry
It is as if shadows only come forward under certain circumstances. We usually experience these processes in a negative way, yet when we are open to them, they can be quite positive.
or…
I like how a fellow INTJ puts it in her “stages of degenerationâ€
1. Fatigue
2. Irritability
3. Feeling of being near to tears if I can’t get some quiet time
4. Sense of impending implosion nearing and a desperate attempt to fix it before it happens. Possible anger/ short fuse.
5. Denial that anything is wrong. Grasp the Te by the horns and FORCE it to keep going forward. After all, feelings are just feelings and when things need to be done, the feelings have to take a back seat. A short lived triumph at pushing on is soon replaced by a frantic thought of ‘I can’t do this…’ which is even more scary because I like to feel like I can do anything. In fact… during times of stress I’ve said that phrase to myself so often that it has blurred into one word. “Icandothis. Icandothis.†I am Near panic.
6. Complete surrender to all whims and desires. I am suddenly on a kind of ‘kamikaze’, hell bent trail to have ‘fun’ at any cost. I drink, I dance, I sing karaoke, I invite that guy over who stays on the ‘booty call’ list, I. I. I…. It becomes ALL about me (more so than usual) and it tends to happen very quickly… like a firecracker going off. Seems that the tighter I try to hold onto that ‘Icandothis’ stage, the harder it hits when I break.
...
Ni: The Ni views the INTJ’s potential, seeing the best that they can possibly be, and therefore setting unrealistic expectations for themselves around these ideals. They are therefore disappointed in whatever their actual achievements are, because they see how they fall short. They also overanalyze everything in their life, often assuming negative things about how people view them/their own abilities and importance based on little to no evidence. They will extrapolate their current situations to long-term future situations (they may believe that since they feel sad now, they will always feel this way, and they may become convinced that they will never feel better). They generally look at things as absolute truths: life is meaningless, I am not a good person, etc. and tend to look at things in black and white (and usually come to the conclusion that things are “blackâ€)
Te: The Te refines the general standards that the INTJ sets, creating structured and organized plans and standards of what they need to achieve. These measurable outlets of success are used to redefine the INTJ’s standards of whether or not they are successful, or “enoughâ€. They worry about being perceived outwardly as competent, intelligent, responsible, etc. and worry that others do not believe that they are these things. They try to deal with their feelings by throwing themselves into productivity and work.
Fi: The INTJ begins to stew in their emotions, becoming very inwardly emotional as they revisit and continue to deal with their personal feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, depression, etc.. They will withdraw from others, choosing to completely wallow in their feelings. They will spend a lot of time merely considering how they feel about their current situation.
Se: INTJ’s in an unhealthy state of mind will often overuse their inferior function. Therefore the INTJ may become overly indulgent and hedonistic in practices such as drinking, partying, hooking up with people, etc. in an attempt to "drown out their sorrows..."
MBTI Database — INTJs in the Grip