Can a person with mental illness ever truly determine their personality type?

[natalia93]

After long debate and continually trying to figure out my personality type, I've found that INFJ resonates the most with me. However, it is really difficult to identify true personality type when there are a lot of confounding factors that affect how you feel, think, and act.

For example, I personally struggle with ADHD, depression, and PMDD (super insane sensitivity to hormonal changes throughout my menstrual cycle... I've declared numerous times I don't want to be a woman because having stable hormones would be SO much easier). Because of this, I deviate from my 'true self' quite frequently. Throw in the fact that I also have some deep rooted self esteem issues and faulty defense mechanisms from childhood, and you've got one cluster f*** of a person! (I don't mean this in a self hating way, but more in the sense that it is VERY difficult to be certain of any specific categorization of myself.)



Side note, I'm new here. If anyone believes this thread should be in a different section let me know!

Another side note: This would be really interesting to consider with a bipolar person. How do you classify personality type (other than turbulent) when there are such extreme differences in it?

 

[prplchknz]

Yes. might be harder but some people without mental illness also have a hard time figuring out their type

 

[Frosty]

Yes. You jusy have to figure that stuff into typing. It makes it harder but its not impossible by a long shot.

Ill answer more in depth later. Also about the bipolar thing. Ill try to put my thoughts into words with that

 

[Peter Deadpan]

Sure, it just takes extra time and is more frustrating. You're far from alone.

 

[Tilt]

Yes. It can be doable. I have a severe anxiety disorder and it took me a few years to figure it out. PTSD and GAD.

 

[neko 4]

I have a mental illness and I know I'm a 4w5 sp/sx and an INFJ.

 

[Frosty]

Ill come back to this I guess. I have bipolar disorder with psychotic features and... I can type myself. Sometimes when Im going through an episode I get really confused and upset and... start thinking very negatively about myself- but I still... Im still me. Im just an emotionally distressed/overly impacted version of myself.

If I weed through all the symptoms I display I can understand why I might appear as a different type- but typology is more about whys then behavior really. I can be very outgoing, very very on to an obnoxious extent and know that its my illness that is doing that to me- and not a conscious choice or preference. Its like taking drugs- your behavior might be impacted, things might be a lot more out of your control, but you are still you underneath all of it. I can know that even if Im manic or hypomanic that that is what that is- not extroversion.

Having this condition means that sometimes its harder for me to be my best self- sometimes it feels just really unfairly harder because sometimes Im really really trying and still feel... just incapable of being in control of my actions as much as I would like to be- but Im still me underneath it all.

If anything you can almost understand type better when you look at health levels. Like with me, when I get really unhealthy I get very... reactive like a 6... and show my upset through yelling at people through my Te (Im an INFP)

Im not sure if I wrote this well enough but... yeah. I guess Im just saying that I have mental illness... but Im NOT mental illness.

 

[Lark]

Can anyone truly know their type?

Who's sane and how is not?

How does an individual remain sane when they live in an insane society? Is an individual sane if their sanity is determined by being highly adjusted to insane expectations or an insane context? When your existence diverges sharply from your essence is it likely to take a tole on your sanity or not?

Most of typology seems useful to me in so far as it encourages reflection and introspection, asking questions like these, beyond that I'm not so sure.

 

[The Cat]

it can be done.

 

[natalia93]

Im not sure if I wrote this well enough but... yeah. I guess Im just saying that I have mental illness... but Im NOT mental illness.

Your entire post was well written, but I just wanted to emphasize the importance of this last bit. YES YES YES!!!

 

[natalia93]

Yes. It can be doable. I have a severe anxiety disorder and it took me a few years to figure it out. PTSD and GAD.

I've struggled with anxiety my whole life as well; that is definitely another one that makes the process more difficult. I've heard the argument "But if you are depressed/anxious/otherwise symptomatic more frequently than you are nonsymptomatic doesn't that become your true self?
As someone who has spent the better part of my life affected by depression on various levels, this was a frightening thought. It took me a minute to dispel this idea and realize that, as [MENTION=29687]Frosty[/MENTION] states, I am not my mental illness. There is a true 'self' beneath all the bullshit imbalances.

 

[rav3n]

Severity and type of illness, will likely define whether people can be typed. Also, meds can impact on typing such as SSRIs. Apparently, not only do they help to mitigate depression, they can affect personality by increasing extraversion and reducing neuroticism.

Personality Change During Depression Treatment: A Placebo-Controlled Trial | Depressive Disorders | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA Network

Outcome Measures NEO Five-Factor Inventory and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.

Results Patients who took paroxetine reported greater personality change than placebo patients, even after controlling for depression improvement (neuroticism, P < .001; extraversion, P = .002). The advantage of paroxetine over placebo in antidepressant efficacy was no longer significant after controlling for change in neuroticism (P = .46) or extraversion (P = .14). Patients taking paroxetine reported 6.8 times as much change on neuroticism and 3.5 times as much change on extraversion as placebo patients matched for depression improvement. Although placebo patients exhibited substantial depression improvement (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score, −1.2 SD, P < .001), they reported little change on neuroticism (−0.18 SD, P = .08) or extraversion (0.08 SD, P = .50). Cognitive therapy produced greater personality change than placebo (P ≤ .01); but its advantage on neuroticism was no longer significant after controlling for depression (P = .14). Neuroticism reduction during treatment predicted lower relapse rates among paroxetine responders (P = .003) but not among cognitive therapy responders (P = .86).

Conclusions Paroxetine appears to have a specific pharmacological effect on personality that is distinct from its effect on depression. If replicated, this pattern would disconfirm the state effect hypothesis and instead support the notion that SSRIs' effects on personality go beyond and perhaps contribute to their antidepressant effects.

Neuroticism and extraversion are 2 of the 5 primary personality dimensions in the Five-Factor Model of Personality.1-3 Neuroticism refers to a tendency to experience negative emotions and emotional instability; extraversion encompasses social extraversion, dominance, and a tendency to experience positive emotions.1-3 Neuroticism and extraversion are largely independent constructs, as evidenced by correlations between them of −0.28 and −0.38 in 2 normative samples.4

Results from longitudinal studies have consistently shown that neuroticism predicts both the onset and the chronicity of major depressive disorder (MDD).5-11 For example, in a study of more than 800 children, precursors of neuroticism measured at age 3 years predicted whether these children would develop MDD at age 21 years.11 In some longitudinal studies, lower levels of extraversion have also predicted the onset of MDD,9,12 but this pattern has not been replicated in other studies.8,10

 

[Polaris]

I have been gifted with bipolar. I say "gifted" because this condition has been little except a blessing. It has reconnected me with society and proven to be the source of countless, immeasurably valuable insights.

Does it create a difficulty for me in determining my type? Not at all. A manic episode is a mood, that's all. Does the fact that you are angry sometimes, happy other times, and sad on occasion make it difficult to pin your type down? If not, you shouldn't expect me to be any different.

 

[natalia93]

[MENTION=6689]Polaris[/MENTION] that's awesome you see it as a gift; not many people with bipolar see it that way.
I hope I didn't in anyway offend you by saying it would be especially difficult with bipolar. I was just looking at the inconsistencies I see within my own moods (my ADHD, hormone imbalances, and depression can kind of look like BP type 2 sometimes). I found it hard to consider what my 'baseline' was in the absence of imbalances because it always seemed there was an imbalance swinging me one way or the other. I've finally figured myself out, but as I said, it was definitely a struggle.

 

[Polaris]

I hope I didn't in anyway offend you by saying it would be especially difficult with bipolar.

No, you didn't offend me at all. : )

 

[EcK]

After long debate and continually trying to figure out my personality type, I've found that INFJ resonates the most with me. However, it is really difficult to identify true personality type when there are a lot of confounding factors that affect how you feel, think, and act.

For example, I personally struggle with ADHD, depression, and PMDD (super insane sensitivity to hormonal changes throughout my menstrual cycle... I've declared numerous times I don't want to be a woman because having stable hormones would be SO much easier). Because of this, I deviate from my 'true self' quite frequently. Throw in the fact that I also have some deep rooted self esteem issues and faulty defense mechanisms from childhood, and you've got one cluster f*** of a person! (I don't mean this in a self hating way, but more in the sense that it is VERY difficult to be certain of any specific categorization of myself.)



Side note, I'm new here. If anyone believes this thread should be in a different section let me know!

Another side note: This would be really interesting to consider with a bipolar person. How do you classify personality type (other than turbulent) when there are such extreme differences in it?

The way to determine your mbti type is to take a decent test and see the result. It's really that simple.
If you type as something - then you are that type.

If the type doesn't correspond to your personality then MBTI is maybe just not for you. It is not a scientific theory, it is not absolutly accurate - 7 billion people are never going to neatly fit in 16 categories. It works for some people, doesn't for others.

If you're looking for something more predictive (though less user friendly if you want to go indepth) I'd suggest you look into the BIG 5 personality traits.

 

[Poki]

Yes

 

[Poki]

After long debate and continually trying to figure out my personality type, I've found that INFJ resonates the most with me. However, it is really difficult to identify true personality type when there are a lot of confounding factors that affect how you feel, think, and act. For example, I personally struggle with ADHD, depression, and PMDD (super insane sensitivity to hormonal changes throughout my menstrual cycle... I've declared numerous times I don't want to be a woman because having stable hormones would be SO much easier). Because of this, I deviate from my 'true self' quite frequently. Throw in the fact that I also have some deep rooted self esteem issues and faulty defense mechanisms from childhood, and you've got one cluster f*** of a person! (I don't mean this in a self hating way, but more in the sense that it is VERY difficult to be certain of any specific categorization of myself.) Side note, I'm new here. If anyone believes this thread should be in a different section let me know! Another side note: This would be really interesting to consider with a bipolar person. How do you classify personality type (other than turbulent) when there are such extreme differences in it?

Personality type is how you navigate, not actions or judgements. Alot of people have issues because they have not learned what to watch for.

Actually bipolar is judged best on the "normal" moments. You can use the flip side to aid and fine tune.
We all exhibit mental illness traits to differing degrees. Its just not labeled on someone until it is disabling to them to a certain degree.

 

[prplchknz]

Yes. might be harder but some people without mental illness also have a hard time figuring out their type

what I meant was it can be hard for anyone and has no bearing on whether or not they're mentally ill

 

[Chad of the OttomanEmpire]

I definitively found my MBTI and enneagram types while I was in the middle of hellish psychological issues, including ASPD-like issues and low-grade paranoia. Needless to mention my physical health problems and total isolation.

I might have thrown off signals that would have confused others, but my essential functioning remained the same, just at lower levels of health.

Actually, I struggled to find my type when I was younger and healthier--I've known about this stuff since high school, yet it took me till I was 30 to actually figure myself out. In my case, family messaging, feedback from peers and teachers, and verbal abuse I suffered caused me to exhibit (or maybe just perceive) atypical behaviors for my enneagram type.

Luckily, as I discovered, this really isn't about behaviors but about your inner mental/emotional structure. How you work. Your psychological underpinnings, attitudes toward life, pattern of intelligence, values, ideal self-image, and ways of perceiving and organizing data. Not your behaviors, emotional torments, disorders, or whatever else.

My feeling is that most people who can't figure out their type are looking at the wrong things, and/or are looking at different sides of themselves and not seeing how they fit into the whole--while neglecting the reality that type is "how you work" and not circumstantial evidence. Speaking from experience, mental and physical illnesses don't touch your innermost functioning, though they may appear to alter its expression.